Exposed (A Draco Malfoy Story)
by XTheMadnessWithinX
Summary: Not waiting for an answer, I turned to go. But from behind me, when he did answer me, he used the line from my favorite movie, the three words that changed my life forever. "As you wish."
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is your author speaking. This is my first story, so I apologize for any mistakes I may have made. I did change a little bit of the dialogue, because I'm paranoid about possible copyright/plagarism (I hope I spelled that word right) issues. I really just wrote this because I've had it in my head for a while now, and had to get it down. I also apologize if the chapters are too short, or if the story over all is too short. Enjoy! Oh, and if you notice any mistakes, feel free to comment and let me know.**

**The Nightmare**

_I was running. And I couldn't remember what I was running to. Or, was I even running TO something? I wasn't sure. But one thing I was sure of: I was terrified. And then I remembered. Something was after me. Someone was following me. Why? What did I do? And how did I even get here? Questions were running through my mind, and I had no answers for them. Then, all of a sudden, I tripped over something, maybe a tree root, or a rock, and fell. And I kept falling, for what seemed like forever. Hours passed, or maybe days, or maybe minutes. And then, finally, I landed onto a hard, cold, and flat surface. When I looked up, I saw the face of none other than Lord Voldemort. And then I looked around, and saw other familiar faces, like Bellatrix, and Greyback. And then I saw my parents, looking harsh and evil. And then I heard a sharp, cold voice yelling strange words, and I saw a green light and then I was gone._

_I thought I was dead. I couldn't see, or feel anything. And things kept going through my head, my happiest memories. Me and my little sister, laughing, playing, and enjoying life. My dad making supper in the kitchen, while my mum tells us stories of their days at Hogwarts. Me, Fred, and George joking and playing pranks on people. Especially Percy. And then a darker memory filled my head. The tall, hooded men who came to our house late one night. Glass shattering, vases breaking, and me and Kayla hiding in a cupboard. There was screaming, and green lights flashing, and then it was silent and I was alone. So, so alone._

I jerked awake in my bed, and my body was covered in a cold sweat. And even though I was safe inside the walls of The Burrow, there were fresh tears streaming down my face. It was just a dream. That stupid, horrible nightmare that invades my sleep every once in a while. I hate this. I hate waking up and crying my eyes out over something that happened so long ago.

After it was obvious I wasn't going to be getting back to sleep for a while, I decided to get up and go downstairs. Perhaps a cup of tea and a good book would calm my mind a bit. I ran my fingers through my long, sandy brown hair, and stopped to check my face in the mirror. My ice blue eyes were surrounded by ugly, puffy bags. Ugh.

As I passed by the doors to everyone's bedrooms, I couldn't help feeling pangs of jealousy for the people in this house, fast asleep in their beds. Ginny in our own room, dreaming of Harry Potter (But if anyone asked her, it was Dean Thomas). Ron in his room, dreaming of being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, or possibly of the back to school feast he always loved so much. Mr. Weasley, soundlessly dreaming of muggle rubber ducks and flying cars, and Mrs. Weasley, dreaming of the day that her son, Percy, would come back to his family. Not that the rest of us miss him very much, though. He was such a prat. When I got to Fred and George's room, I paused. I missed the days where when I had a nightmare, I could crawl into bed with Fred and sleep a dreamless, deep sleep. He was the only one who could ever calm me down enough to sleep. But, we were too old for that now. I hadn't done that in years. Not to mention, it would be slightly inappropriate, seeing as how we weren't actually related. So, I resumed my trip down to the kitchen.

As I waited for the water to boil, I went over to the couch to pick up the book I had reluctantly put down earlier that day. But as my eyes roamed the pages, and the words of another world, my mind kept wondering to the dream that had woken me up. It wasn't a day I liked to think about, but my attempts to smother the memory failed and my mind went over every detail for the millionth time. Kayla and I had been in the kitchen with mum, singing Christmas songs and making cookies for Christmas, which was in 3 days. Well, they were singing. I didn't sing back then. I couldn't… Well, never mind. As we got to day ten of the twelve days of Christmas, our dad hurried into the room, looking afraid. My mum saw the look on his face, and immediately copied it.

"What's going on?" She said.

"They've come for her." Was all he said, but mum seemed to understand.

"Well, we have to leave! We have to get out of here! Girls, go grab some clothes and get in the car. We're going somewhere-"

"No, it's too late to leave. They're here. Now." Dad said.

A look of horror crossed mum's face. She made a strange choking sound, looked at us, at me, and said, "Oh God."

And then they both ran to us and pulled us into a hug, as if it would be the last hug they ever gave. After just a few moments, my dad pulled away and said, "Girls, you have to hide. Go into that cupboard in the hallway, put the lock on the inside in place, and stay there until we come to get you. Alright? Don't leave that cupboard."

"We won't. We promise." I said to them. I was so scared, and I could see Kayla having the same fear, even though we had no idea what was going on. As we all hurried toward the cupboard, I could hear my mother's sobs growing louder and louder. As we ducked through the door, she stopped us and pulled us into one last hug.

"I love you. I love you both. And your father does too, ok? Never forget that. No matter what happens. We love you." And with that, she got up and backed away. When my father knelt down to us, he didn't say any words. He leaned down and placed a kiss on each of our foreheads, and got up to stand by our mother.

As we went into the cupboard and locked the door, we heard the front door burst open and feet rushing in. People started talking, and then shouting, and then we saw little bursts of colors through the crack under the door. I remained silent, even though every part of me ached to be out there with them. When we heard a scream from my mother, Kayla got too scared to bear it any more. She left the cupboard, slipping past my grip, and ran into the living room. As I struggled with myself to either do what my parents told me too, or go after my sister, I saw a green light, and heard one last final scream cut short by a loud crack, and then complete silence. And that made up my mind. As I reached the living room, I thought I was prepared for what I was about to see. But it wasn't what I expected. There was broken glass everywhere. Paper from my dad's old books was ripped and scattered throughout the room, and the furniture was all torn and tipped over. There were bright red blood marks on the carpet and the curtains. I had expected to find my family there, all safe and sound and waiting for me, but instead I just found one person lying on the floor. Quiet, lifeless, and limbs strewn about as if she were a toy doll, was Kayla.

She was dead.

"Talia?"

I jerked out of my memory as I heard my name, and realized that the kettle was steaming, signaling the boiling of the water. It was Fred who had said my name, standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at me with concern.

"Fred! I didn't even realize you were there! I should go and get some tea, would you like a cup?" I said, purposefully making my voice sound nonchalant.

"I can grab it. Mint chamomile, right?" He asked.

"Of course." He left, and I quickly checked my eyes to see if I had been crying. Thankfully, I was dry. I didn't want to have to explain why I was up so late, a book in my hands, but staring off into the distance. But, as always, I underestimated Fred's ability to get inside my head.

"Here you go, one hot cup of your favorite tea. Now, care to explain why you're down here so late?"

"What about you? Why are you down here as late as I am?"

"I had to get a glass of water and go to the bathroom. And don't try and distract me by changing the subject, you know I'm smarter than that. Why are you up? Couldn't sleep?" I nodded. "Had the nightmare again?" I nodded again, looking away. "Why didn't you come wake me up? I could've helped. Or, I could have at least rubbed your back while you got all snotty and cried."

"Oh, thanks for that. I didn't come because I didn't want to wake you and George up. And don't you think we're a bit old for all that? I should be able to sleep on my own."

"You can, sometimes. But sometimes you need help, and you shouldn't be afraid to admit it. And you KNOW that neither George, nor I, would be the slightest upset if you needed to come in and talk to us."

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just, every time I have that dream, I can't help but feel it's my fault she's gone. I mean, they were after me, weren't they? They thought she was me. Because I'm… The way I am."

"Talia, you can't think that. You have no idea if they were after you. How could you? You were eight years old! You can't beat yourself up about this anymore."

"I know! I'm sorry." I repeated.

"Yeah, well, you should be. Just wait 'till I tell Georgie that our little sister had a bad dream, and came down here to be by herself, feeling guilty, instead of coming to us, her favorite brothers." He said with a big fat grin on his face.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Fred, that we're not actually family?"

"And how many times do I have to tell you, Natalia, that you are part of this family, no matter what your blood says?"

"Don't call me by my full name."

"Don't accuse me of not being your brother."

"You know I don't like people using my full name."

"You let mum call you Natalia!"

"Well, that's different. She watched my birth, I'm pretty sure that gives her the right to call me whatever she wants. Even if it is my full name."

"You mean, Natalia Jackson?"

"Fred!"

"NATALIA JACKSON!"

"Shut up! People are sleeping!"

"Natalia Jackson told me to shut up! Natalia Jackson says people are sleeping!"

And with that, I couldn't contain my laughter any longer. And by the look on his face, I could tell that that was exactly what Fred wanted. After that, we just sat there and talked, and it was as easy as it always had been. Both Fred and George had always been there for me, always been able to cheer me up when no one else could. Even before my parents had been taken, I had been really close to them. Our parents had been friends after Hogwarts, so we had all grown up together. I was the same age as Ron, and Kayla had been the same age as Ginny. After my family had been broken, I was sent to live here with the Weasleys. They were like a second family to me, and I loved them all to death. I was so lucky to have a family like this to take care of me, to raise me as if I were one of them. And really, I did feel like I was. I just liked to give the twins crap about it. Sitting here with Fred, I felt so at home. And it was good.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Going Away Party**

I awoke, surprisingly, on Fred's shoulder the next morning. Somewhere after teasing him about that one time we got drunk because he snuck into his parents liquor cabinet, and deciding if we should wake George and do it again, I must have fallen asleep. It was nice. I like sleep. Ever since Lord Voldemort returned in fourth year, I haven't gotten much of it. Too many nightmares, and too many headaches.

I sat there for a minute, seeing if I was going to get back to sleep. Nope, wide awake. And apparently, everyone else was too. Everyone was up and doing what they all normally do. Well, except for Fred. He was reading the book that I had picked up last night.

"Are my eyes deceiving me, or are you, Fred Weasley, actually reading a book?" I said to him.

"Well, no, not really. I tried to actually read it, but it was too boring. So, I've been pretending to read for the past twenty minutes."

"Oh my God. Why didn't you just get up and do something else?" Why did he have to be so stubborn?

"Because that would involve possibly waking you up."

"Fred, you don't have to be so chivalrous."

"Are you kidding me? I didn't want to wake you up because ANYONE who wakes you up before you're ready will get smacked. And we don't want you to be all grumpy when Hermione gets here, she may think she upset you somehow."

"Hermione! I totally forgot!" And with that, I dashed upstairs to get dressed and clean up a bit. When Hermione comes to stay, she always stays with Ginny and I, so I'd need to clear a spot for her bed. I was so excited! I haven't seen her all summer! Hermione, Ron, and Harry and I had been friends for a very long time. Well, I guess six years isn't too long, but we've been through a lot together. First year, when it turned out that we had a psycho DADA teacher. Second year, when poor Ginny got sucked in by that weird old diary of Tom Riddle's. Third year, when Harry thought he was being stalked by Sirius Black but then it turned out that he was just looking after him. Fourth year, with that awful Tri Wizard Tournament and Voldemort returning. Last year, with Umbridge. Ugh. That horrid woman. And then the battle with Voldemort and his death eaters at the Ministry, where Sirius almost died. I will say that I did have a small role to play in saving him.

We were all starting our sixth year this year. Unfortunately, last year was the Twins' last. I would miss having them around. But I still had the other three. And of course, there was always Ginny, and Luna, and Neville. And, secretly Blaise. We had… Well, I guess you could call it a special relationship. But you'll find out soon enough.

I got dressed, pulled my long, wavy brown hair back into a messy ponytail, and put some eyeliner on to make my light blue eyes pop just a bit. I got downstairs just in time for Hermione to get there. I was so happy to see her, that I probably knocked over a few people on my way to her. "I missed you, girl." I said to her.

"I missed you too! I wish you would have joined me and my family in Paris this summer. It was breathtaking. You would've loved it. Plenty of attractive men to flirt with." She said, winking.

"Oh, you know me so well!" And with that, it was like no time had passed at all. Hermione found Ginny and hugged her, quickly, so she could grill her about Dean Thomas. As always, Ginny gave very few details about it. When she found Ron, they did hug, however awkwardly.

One night, as I was sitting outside in the back watching some shooting stars, I heard a loud CRACK and then a splash. Weird. And then, what was even weirder, I saw someone walking into The Burrow. Oh God, someone was breaking into our house. I ran, so ready to kick this guy's ass, but when I got inside I saw that it was none other than Harry Potter.

"HARRY!" I ran over to him and almost knocked him down.

"Jeez, Talia, it's only been a couple months." He said.

"So you're not happy to see me?"

"Of course I am." And he hugged me back. I loved my friends. Later that night, Me, Ron, Harry and Hermione sat in Ron's room, talking, watching a copy of The Daily Prophet burn in midair.

"When did you get here?" He asked Hermione.

"Just a few days ago. Though, for a while I wasn't sure I was coming." She replied.

Harry looked up, just in time to see us all glance knowingly at each other. And then Ron said, "Mum sort of lost it last week. Said Ginny, Talia and I had no business going back to Hogwarts."

"Why?" Asked Harry.

"She said it's just too dangerous. Can you blame her, with all this stuff that's been going on?" I said.

"Oh, come on…"

"She's not alone. Even my parents, they're MUGGLES and they even know something bad is happening." Said Hermione.

"Anyway, Arthur stepped in, told her she was being barmy. Took a day or two, but she came around." I said.

"Yeah, but we're talking about Hogwarts. Dumbledore! What could be safer?" Asked Harry.

"Well, there's been a lot of chatter lately, that he's gotten… Old." Said Hermione.

"That's rubbish. He's only… What?"

"A hundred and, fifty? Give or take a few years." Said Ron.

And then we lost it. We laughed until our sides were aching. When we finally calmed down, I noticed Malfoy's face on the Prophet right before that part burned. He looked… Sad. Well, of course he was sad. His father was in prison, and he was surrounded by fricken Death Eaters all the time. It's not going to make me feel any sympathy for him. He's rude, and annoying, and in my opinion gets everything he deserves.

A few minutes later, Fred and George came in looking giddy with huge grins on their faces. "Come with us." They said together.

"What are you guys up to, now?" I said.

"It's a secret, not to be mentioned inside the same house as our mum. But it's good, and you will not want to miss it." Said George.

"Think of it as our going away party, seeing as how we're moving into the flat above Weasley Wizard Wheezes tomorrow!" Said Fred.

"Well, I'm game. Anyone else?" I asked.

"Count me out. We're school shopping tomorrow, remember?" Hermione said.

"And?"

"Yeah, I think I'm coming too. Is this another one of those… special care packages from Lee Jordan in Russia?" Ron asked. Both the twins' smiles grew even wider. "Then I'm definitely coming. Harry, you should come too."

"Sure." Harry said. Hermione walked out of the room, sighed, and mumbled something about immature baby first-years.

"We love you too, Hermione!" I shouted. Everyone laughed.

I walked down the stairs with a spring in my step, along with everyone else. Well, maybe not Harry. He was definitely interested, if not a little apprehensive. "Is anyone going to tell me where we're going and what we'll do when we get there?" He asked.

"You'll see, soon enough." Fred, George, and I said in unison, with sly smiles.

"Mum, we're going for a walk! Don't wait up!" Ron shouted.

"Be careful! Don't wander far! And DON'T track mud back into my house, you slobs!" We heard Molly shout from somewhere in the house.

After a few minutes of walking, out of range of The Burrow and Mrs. Weasley's creepy fox ears, we stopped. Fred and George pulled out a package they had apparently hid there earlier that day, and inside it was actual Russian Fire Whiskey. You have to love Lee Jordan.

"I see." Said Harry as Fred opened the bottle and drank from it, then handing it to me. I took a nice, long swig.

"Oy, make sure to save some for the rest of us!" Ron said. Then to Harry, "Last time, Fred and Talia drank almost all of it by themselves."

"That, little brother, is because the non-virgins always go first." Fred said, looking at me with a sly smile.

"Hey! Don't go blabbing it to everyone! I told you two not to tell anyone!" I yelled.

"Hey, I didn't mumble a word." George said proudly.

"That makes you my new favorite."

"You're not a virgin? I don't think I want to be hearing this." Ron said, a little disgusted.

"Who'd you lose it to?" Asked Harry.

"Oh, please." Said Fred.

"Yeah, she didn't even tell us that." Said George.

"And that's how it's gonna stay, boys." And then we drank, and drank, until the bottle was dry and we got Ron to start singing the Hogwarts anthem. It was a good night, and a perfect way to send off the Twins into their new lives.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Secret Meeting**

"Step up, step up!" Fred and George were yelling across the store.

"We've got Fainting Fancy,"

"Nosebleed Nougats,"

"And, Just in time for school,"

"Puking Pastilles!"

"And we've even got some special hangover cures, in the back,"

"Just for you, Talia." They said, a little more quiet, to me.

"Shut up, you dumb shits. I've got a headache."

"Oh, we're sure you do. Do you even remember that song you sang to everyone last night?" Said George.

"Are you kidding me? I thought that was Ron! You know you can't let that happen when I'm drunk, I can't control it-"

"Chill, Talia, it was a joke. It WAS Ron who sang that beautiful song for us." Said Fred.

"I hate you two, sometimes." I said, and then started walking away.

"Oh, you know you love us ALL the time!" They shouted as I left them.

"Yeah, whatever." I said to myself. I passed a bunch of people I recognized from school. Some I liked, some I didn't.

"Hey, Talia!" Said Lavender Brown, a little enthusiastically.

"Oh, hey, Lavender. Uh, what's up?"

"Have you seen Ron?"

"Uh, actually, I think I hear someone calling for me. See you at school!" And I hurried away. She's so strange. And then I saw… Ugh. Cormac McLaggen.

"Hey, Talia. What do you say about you and I going out back and-"

"As I've said a million times, McLaggen, Never in your wildest dreams."

"Alright, see you! Hey, is that Hermione Granger…" He said as he walked away. What a moron.

I walked around for a bit, said hi to people, looking at all the random stuff in that amazing shop. I spotted Ginny, and was about to go over to her, but then I saw that she was getting close and personal with Dean, so I decided to leave them alone for a while. And then Ron finds me.

"The rest of us are gonna leave, you want to come?" He asked me.

"Yes, please. It's too crowded in here, and I can only take McLaggen hitting on me so many times before I barf. On him."

"You too?" Said Hermione, and we laughed.

We left to the deserted Diagon Alley, passing all the abandoned shops, our light moods darkening with each one

"How are Fred and George doing it? Half the alley's closed down." Said Hermione.

"Fred reckons people need a laugh these days." I said.

"I reckon he's right." Said Harry

"Oh no, look," Hermione said, spotting what was once Ollivander's shop. "Everyone got there wands from Ollivander's."

"Well, not anymore, the way I see it." I said.

"Guys, is it me, or do Draco and Mummy over there look like two people who don't want to be followed?" Asked Ron.

And sure enough, when we look over, we see the two Malfoys, looking shifty. They were getting ready to head down an alley that, if I wasn't mistaken, lead to Knockturn Alley.

"Well, are we gonna just stand here with our thumbs in our asses, or are we gonna follow them?" I said, already heading that way.

"I have to say I agree with Talia." Said Harry, following.

"Yeah." Said Ron, right behind Harry.

"Uh, I don't know, guys…" said Hermione, unsure. But, she followed anyway, like the Hermione we've always known. We followed them, from a distance of course, until they entered a shop called Borgin and Burkes.

"Hey, Harry, isn't that the shop that you landed in right before second year?" I asked.

"Yeah, it is." He said.

"We need a better view. Up here," Ron said, and started climbing the roof of the building next door.

When we got up there, we saw a bunch of people. All death eaters, some I didn't recognize, but some I did. There was Bellatrix Lestrange, and of course two of the three Malfoys. And, when my eyes landed on Fenrir Greyback, I had to suppress a shudder. I never, EVER, wanted to have to deal with him. That was just… No. I'm not going to even think about that right now. My foot slipped and I scraped my knees and elbows, and let out a cry that I muffled as best as I could. But, apparently it wasn't good enough, because Greyback heard it and as he turned to look, we all had to let ourselves fall to the ground.

"I'm sorry guys, my foot slipped." I said after we were safe, back in Diagon Alley.

"Don't apologize, it was an accident." Said Harry, playfully punching my shoulder.

"Yeah, and anyway, I don't even think he saw anything. He probably just thought it was a bird or something." Said Ron.

"Come on guys, we should probably get back. It's about time to head home." Said Hermione.

"Yeah, let's go. I haven't even begun to pack up my stuff for school yet." I said, and everyone laughed. Including Hermione.

When we got back home, Mrs. Weasley was just finishing up supper, which just about made Ron's day. God, that boy is always hungry.

"Bloody hell, Ron, are you just ALWAYS hungry?" I asked him.

"Yes." Everyone else replied. Well, except for Ron. He had a dinner roll jammed in his mouth.

"So, how was the shopping? Did everyone get all their books?" Asked Molly.

"Oh yeah. All 100 pounds of them." I replied, which made Ron snigger, which made him choke.

"Yes, very funny, Natalia. How was Fred and George's shop?"

"Just as crowded as last time we visited them, mum. Those guys are really doing a great job." Said Ginny.

"I'm so proud." Said Molly.

"So am I. Who else here expected them to live at home and never get any jobs for the rest of their lives?" I asked. This time, everyone laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Train Ride**

"Don't you see? It was a ceremony. An initiation." Harry was saying, on the train ride back to Hogwarts. It had been bothering him all week, what we witnessed at Borgin and Burkes.

"Stop, Harry, I know where you're going with this." Said Hermione.

"It's happened, he's one of them."

"One of what?" Said Ron.

"Harry is under the impression that Draco Malfoy is now a Death Eater." Replied Hermione.

"You're barking. What would You-Know-Who want with a sod like Malfoy?"

"So, what was he doing in Borgin and Burkes, browsing for furniture?" Said Harry, sarcastically. He was starting to get annoyed with the other two disagreeing with him.

"It's a creepy shop, he's a creepy bloke."

"Look, you guys, it makes sense. We know his father's a Death Eater." I said, agreeing with Harry.

"See? And besides, Hermione saw it. With her own eyes." Harry said.

"I told you. I don't know what I saw." Said Hermione. By her voice, we could all tell that she was done discussing this for now. After a few moments of awkward quietness, Harry got up and snatched his invisibility cloak.

"I need some air." He said, not making eye contact, and left the compartment.

"Oh please. Did he really think that we just 'wouldn't notice' him grabbing his cloak?" I said.

"It's Harry we're talking about here, Tal." Said Ron.

"Right, right. Why do I even bother? I'm going to go get changed into my robes."

"Good idea. Why don't we all?" Said Hermione.

And then we left our compartment on the train, in search of places to get changed. As I was rushing toward a bathroom that I thought was empty, I was suddenly pulled into a compartment by none other than Blaise Zabini.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Blaise Zabini."

"Hello, Talia Jackson. What brings you here on this fine, crisp afternoon?" Said Blaise.

"Oh, you know. An arm randomly grabbing me and pulling me against my will. The usual." I said, casually.

"Oh please. You know that if you knew it was my arm, you would've come more than willingly."

"Wow, that's cocky."

"Well, that's the idea."

And, like always, we snogged. And boy, was it good. Blaise has always been the grabby type, so of course I had to slap his hands for moving too fast a couple times. Not that I didn't want it, I just liked to stay in control. When his mouth made its way down to my neck, I got excited and started to unbutton his shirt. One of the reasons I liked Blaise, along with being the only civilized, tolerable Slytherin, was that he was incredibly toned. I ran my hands over his muscly arms, his perfect chest, and his amazing abs. I sure did miss it. Boy, if any of my friends saw me just then… Well, let's just say I probably wouldn't survive that encounter. Not to mention if any of HIS friends saw us. I guess it was a good thing he pulled the curtains and locked the door after dragging me in.

"So, why aren't you with all your lovely friends, like Pug-Face Parkinson, and those two lazy assholes you call Slytherins?" I asked him after a while.

"Crabbe and Goyle are probably off sleeping, or harassing some newbies. Those guys are pathetic. And Pansy is SO not my friend. But she was with Malfoy, and he was being a whiny depressed wanker. So I left to come find you, because you are MUCH better company than the rest of them."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me one bit. But thank you anyway."

"Of course."

And then we resumed our fun, until my curious mouth couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"So, how was Malfoy being so annoying? The usual?"

"No, it was different this time. He seems to be all distant, like his life sucks and no one could POSSIBLY understand. What a baby."

"Tell me about it." A few seconds passed, "So… what kind of things did he say?"

"I SO do not want to talk about him right now. I'd rather we do this." And then he started to do things that I would NEVER tell anyone about. But that didn't mean I didn't like it.

….

After about a half an hour, we were getting close to the school and decided to get dressed. We put on our robes, and then he left, and I waited a few minutes before leaving so no one would see we were together. I met Ron and Hermione back in their compartment, and of course they started interrogating me.

"What took you so long? I know for a fact it doesn't take you that long to put on make-up and stuff, and it only takes five minutes to put our uniform and robes on." Said Ron.

"It took me forever to find a bathroom that wasn't occupied. Eventually I just decided to find an empty compartment, which took me a while too."

"Well, you should've come with me. I found a bathroom right away." Said Hermione.

"Aw man! Ok, next time I'm coming with you." And then the train started to come to a stop, so we gathered our things and left.

"Wait, you guys. Did Harry ever come back?" I asked.

"No. I figure he's already on the platform." Said Ron.

"But he left all his stuff!"

"Well, let's grab it for him, then." Said Hermione.

We never found Harry on the platform. We searched for a while, but the crowd was just too thick.

"Hey, Hagrid!" I shouted at the big, half-giant towering over the crowd.

"Talia! How was yer holiday?" He asked me.

"Oh, it was great. Hey, do you see Harry anywhere? We can't find him."

"No, I can't seem to spot 'im, either. If I see 'im, I'll let 'im know yer lookin' for 'im!"

"Thanks!"

"Well, that was a bloody bust." Said Ron. "Why don't we just go up to the great hall and wait for him there?"

"You would say that, Ron. What if he didn't make it off the train?" Asked Hermione, worriedly.

"I think Ron's right. Eventually, he'll make his way up to the castle, and we can give him a good smack for scaring the hell out of us."


	5. Chapter 5

**The Letter to Fred**

Harry didn't show up until after the Sorting Hat finished his song. As if nothing was wrong, Ron was stuffing his face with anything he could get his hands on. Hermione was worried sick, and I could tell that Ginny was too. I gave her a wry smile, making her blush.

"Don't worry. He'll be 'long soon 'nuff." Said Ron, accidentally spitting some pudding back onto his plate. Hermione immediately started hitting him with her book.

"Will. You. Stop. Eating! Your best friend is missing!"

"Oy! Turn around, you lunatic!" Ron said, and sure enough, when we all spun around in our seats, there he was. And he was all bloody.

"He's covered in blood again. Why is it he's always covered in blood?" Said Ginny.

"Looks like it's his own, this time." I said to her.

"Where have you been, Harry? And what happened to your face?" Hermione asked him as soon as he sat down.

"Later. What've I missed?" He asked us.

"Sorting hat urged us all to be brave and strong in these trying times. Easy for it to say, though. It's a hat, isn't it? First years seemed to enjoy it, though. Wankers." Ron told him. I watched with amusement as Ginny took a damp napkin and started awkwardly dabbing Harry's face. She saw me watching, then handed the napkin to Harry so he could dab his own face. I shook my head, quietly chuckling to myself.

The first few days of school went by relatively smoothly. We got our schedules the next morning at breakfast, and I had almost all my classes with my friends. Unfortunately, Hermione and I had Potions with the Slytherins. Thankfully, Professor Snape was no longer the teacher of that class. Now it was this guy by the name of Horace Slughorn. Apparently Harry met him before arriving at the Burrow. But, that meant that Snape was now teaching Defense Against The Dark Arts. Like that wasn't a train wreck waiting to happen. But, oh well. Somehow, I managed to stay off his REALLY bad list, unlike Harry and Ron and Hermione, and stayed on the normal bad list, along with everyone else. Except the Slytherins. I arrived to potions that day, with Hermione, to find that it was a relatively small class this year. I was extremely excited to see Seamus Finnigan in that class. I always looked forward to him blowing shit up every week. But then my eyes found Draco Malfoy, and my stomach turned a little bit. What a Freaking joy it was to be in the same class as him.

"Oh, wonderful. We share this class with the great Slytherin prince. Once again." I said over to Hermione.

"Oh, we probably won't even have to interact with him at all."

"Sure we won't. But you know he's still going to find a way to bring up the M-word, or call me a Weasley-Wanna-Be, like he always does."

"I don't know. Haven't you noticed, he's a little different? I mean, more closed off somehow."

"I don't know." Harry and Ron walked into class late. Funny, I didn't think they even had this class. They ended up having to get used books from the closet, and Harry's was a bit dinged up. We had to brew a Draught of Living Death, in order to win a tiny vial of Felix Felicis. For some reason, I kept on noticing Malfoy eyeing that little vial every once in a while. He'd glance at it, and his grey-ish blue eyes would sparkle just a little bit more than usual, and then he'd work a little bit more hard on his potion. He'd get a little frustrated, and then run his hand through his soft, blonde hair, and then glance at the Felix Felicis all over again. And that's when I realized I'd been staring at Malfoy this whole time instead of working on my potion. What? Why was I even bothering to look at him? Whatever. I guess I wasn't going to win that potion today.

….

I had the nightmare again. Running, and then falling, Voldemort, my parents, Darkness, memories, and then silence. And when I woke up, I didn't have a Fred's shoulder to cry on. I didn't know how I was going to survive school without those two. I got up and went to the common room, to sit on the couch by the fire. But I was too restless, I had to get out and go somewhere. I snuck up to the boys' room to steal Harry's cloak, and then I left the Gryffindor common room.

I didn't know where my feet were leading me. I didn't even know where I wanted them to go. I just needed to walk. Eventually, I found myself walking up stairs. A LOT of stairs. Then I realized I was heading for the Astronomy Tower, and I decided that some fresh air would be good. I really hoped this wouldn't have to happen every night, though. I sat there, Right next to the railing, with my feet hanging off the edge. It was nice, until I realized that I wasn't going to be getting any sleep the rest of the night. I was going to be miserable the next day at school. And just the thought of that, and every day after that, made me start to cry. It wasn't the snotty, blubbering cry that I usually do, just quiet sobs and constant tears.

I sat like that for a while, just letting the tears go, until I found out that I wasn't alone anymore. I heard some shuffling behind me, and I turned to find Draco Malfoy standing there, in front of the open door as if he had just come in.

"What are YOU doing here?" I asked him, with much snark in my voice.

"I could ask YOU the same question." He said in the exact same tone.

I wiped my face, so he wouldn't see the tears. "I just needed some air. Bad dream. Whatever."

"Were you crying?" Shit.

"No! And why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't."

"Well, fine then." And he stood there, watching me, as if he expected me to do something. "What?"

"Aren't you going to leave?"

"Um, No? I was here first, you bloody git!"

"So? I shouldn't have to be the one to leave!"

"That's just too damn bad, Malfoy. I could sit here ALL night. In fact, I plan on it." And with that, I turned back around and stared out at the sky. And after about ten seconds…

"UGH! Fine, you stupid muggle loving bimbo!" And he left. It was very satisfying.

When I actually found myself drifting off to sleep, I decided to go back to bed. And when I woke up the next morning, from a deep, dreamless sleep, I knew something was up.

_Dear Fred,_

_How's the shop doing? I bet you're completely dead and alone without me there to keep you company. I don't know how I'm going to get through school without my two favorite pranksters. You should totally send me some stuff from your shop so I can get some pranking in myself._

_I had the nightmare again last night. I really didn't expect to get back to sleep without you here, so I swiped Harry's cloak and went on a walk. I went up to the Astronomy tower, hoping that the fresh air would help clear my head, and you'll never believe who was up there too. Malfoy! He got there a little bit after me, and HE expected ME to leave! Can you believe him? Ugh. One of these days he's going to push me too far, and I'm going too… Well, it won't be good, I can tell you that._

_But the thing is, after that, I actually SLEPT. Like, through the night. I even almost missed my first class this morning. What's the deal? I've never been able to sleep after a nightmare, unless I was with you. Well, sometimes George too, but I have to pretend he's you. Don't tell him._

_Well, lunch is almost over, and I haven't eaten anything yet. So, please write me back soon._

_Talia._

And I slept through the night for the next five nights. I had no idea what was going on, but heck. I wasn't complaining. School was going well; I'd always somehow managed to keep my grades up. When I got Fred's reply I practically sprinted up to my room. I needed to get to the bottom of this weird stuff that was happening inside my head. First, I caught myself gazing at Malfoy during class. Then, we ran into each other at the astronomy tower, and I was magically able to sleep for almost a week. And now, I keep on having to stop my thoughts from drifting to him. I even started to sing in the shower yesterday! I don't sing! When I got up to my room, I ripped open the envelope and read Fred's word, hoping for an answer.

_Talia,_

_Of COURSE we're dead without you. Sometimes, George doesn't even bother getting up in the morning. The shop's good, we're developing some new products that I'll have to send you to test out for us._

_So, you ran into Malfoy? That sucks. That boy has got a lot coming to him. But, hey! At least you've been sleeping! You'll be getting rid of that nightmare in no time, and you don't even need me._

_Hey, I gotta go, some little toss pot is trying to shop lift some candy. I wonder if he realizes it's the puking pastilles._

_Fred_

I read his letter in complete disbelief. "THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY NO BLOODY HELP AT ALL FRED GIDEON WEASLEY!"

"You ok, Talia?"

"Ginny! Uh, yeah, I'm good. Uh, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough for you to call Fred by his full name, without him even being here. You sure you're good?"

"Yeah. But thanks!"

"Yep."

I tried my best to avoid both Malfoy, and the astronomy tower, but somehow it just didn't work. I sat as far away from him as I could in all our classes, and I still managed to find the back of his head and focus on it instead of the work. I hate him. I even dreaded going to Astronomy classes, even though I didn't even have that class with him. It was ridiculous.

Then, after a few weeks, I had the nightmare again. And when I woke up, sweating and crying, I was determined not to go up to the tower. But for some insane reason, I went anyway. What was wrong with me? Well, maybe he wouldn't be there this time. He was probably avoiding the tower as well, anyway.

He wasn't. When I got up there, he was standing there, both hands on the railing. I didn't think he noticed I had walked in.

"Oh, bloody hell." I yelled. That got his attention.

"Are you kidding me? What are you doing here now? And I was here first this time, so don't even THINK about making me leave!" He yelled back at me. I hated that boy.

"Wouldn't even dream of it, Malfoy." And I walked back out.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Strange Experience**

And it kept happening. Every few days, I would go up to the tower, and he was there. And when I did manage to get there first, HE showed up. Have I mentioned how much I hated that boy? It was getting really frustrating. In class, whenever I caught myself staring at him, I always caught him staring back. And then he'd either look away and pretend it didn't happen, or cover it up by looking at me with a look like he had just taken a whiff of some really nasty old cheese. How flattering, right? And all day, every day, all I thought about was him. Don't get me wrong, it was always about how much I despise him, but still. I had never really thought about it that much before. It was driving me crazy. The only good thing that came out of all of this was that I wasn't having that awful dream anymore.

And then, for a while, it got better. I wasn't running into Malfoy anymore, I was able to focus on classes, AND I still wasn't having the dream. I was back to having normal dreams, like talking to purple animals, or having sex with Orlando Bloom. Really, really good sex. My life was finally getting back to how I liked it.

One Thursday, instead of my last class, I had an open period. I was roaming the halls, alone, and I saw a familiar head turn the corner. I was feeling a little playful today, and it had been a while. So, I followed him, hoping to catch him off guard in a dark corner somewhere. He had his nose buried in a book, History of Magic it looked like, and had no idea I was there. So, I walked up until I was right behind him, grabbed his waist, and pushed him into the closest class room. Thank God it was empty, I probably should have checked that first.

"What? Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"It's Professor Snape. What is your business, Mr. Zabini?"

"It's scary how well you can do that voice."

"Oh, so NOW you know who I am."

"What are we doing in here, anyway?"

"Anything you want us to do, baby." I said in an extremely seductive, yet joking, voice.

"Now we're talking." And that's when the joking ended. He pushed me up against the wall, with one hand grabbing my thigh, and the other behind my neck. When I kicked off my shoes, he picked me up and carried me over to a desk so I could wrap my legs around his waist. Bloody Hell, I didn't know how he got so good at this. Well, maybe I did. Probably the same way I got so good at it. Practice, practice, practice. His hands left my neck and thigh so they could start opening my shirt, so I did the same to him. When we accomplished that, he laid me down on the desk and climbed on top of me. I giggled, which made him chuckle.

"I love how we've been doing this for a couple years now, and I can still make you blush."

"Just shut up and get this started already."

"Wow, that's romantic."

"Dude, you're the guy. You're not supposed to be the one who's concerned with the romance part."

"True."

And then he shut up and got it started already. And I was not disappointed. Of course, to be fair, I never was. He was just so…. Good. As we did what we were both OH so good at, as I ran my hands over his dark, bare, wonderfully muscly back, I never wanted to stop. But then, disaster struck. Something so horrible, I don't even want to talk about it.

Malfoy.

For some crazy reason, because everyone knows you DON'T open your eyes during sex, I went and opened my eyes. And instead of seeing Blaise's face, I saw fricken Malfoy's face. His wonderful, deep, blue-ish grey eyes looking at me, staring into mine. His blonde hair just screaming for me to touch it. I quickly closed my eyes before my hand would reach out to it, and thankfully Blaise was back. And I went back to enjoying really great sex with Blaise Zabini. As we finished, and he rolled off me with a sigh of relief, I longed to run out and tell someone about this strange experience. And that's when I realized, I HAD no one to talk to about this. Because I had decided not to tell anyone about me and Blaise. And I DEFINITELY decided not to tell anyone about Malfoy.

"You ok? You look so deep in thought." Blaise said. I looked over to him, and saw him propped up on one elbow, face in his hand, staring at me.

"What? Why are you watching me like that?"

"You we're being so quiet, which you never are, and I was afraid I did something wrong. It was ok, right? I wasn't too rough or anything?"

"Blaise. You know me pretty well. Which means that you know I have nothing against a little roughness once in a while."

"True that."

"I was just thinking, that's all."

"Also something you never do." I punched him. "Alright, alright, I was only kidding. I love your nice arm, though."

"You seem to love a lot of things about me."

"Don't get the wrong idea, Jackson. Besides, I CAN'T love a lot of things about you, because I really don't know that much about you in the first place."

"And that's exactly how it's going to stay."

"Oh, come on. Just tell me one tiny, little secret."

"Nope."

"Please? For me?" Then he gave me those cute little puppy dog eyes. Shit.

"Oh fine. I think it was really cute how concerned you looked when you thought you did something wrong earlier."

"That's it?"

"Hey, you asked for a tiny, little secret. I wasn't going to tell you, because I thought it would hurt your ego."

"Ok, seriously. What's up, Talia? How come you never talk to me about stuff? Am I REALLY only good for sex once in a while?"

"No, Blaise, I'm sorry. I just… I don't really like to open up to people, you know? I don't like to show people what's inside me. It makes me feel… I don't know. Exposed, I guess. I don't like feeling that way."

"That's ok. You don't have to tell me EVERYTHING. Just enough so I know I'm not just a prostitute or something."

"Oh Blaise, you could never be just a prostitute to me. I don't pay you."

"You make me feel so special." And then we spent a little time, getting dressed, and trying to fan the sweat off of each other. It was fun. It was just like we were friends, messing around and having a good time. And after we were ready to leave, I turned to him.

"Blaise, thank you. I really needed this."

He leaned one hand against the door frame. "Really amazing sex?"

"No, you asshole. I mean the talking part. I really needed it."

"You're welcome. And I really think you should talk to someone. A girl, I think."

"Yeah, maybe. You know Blaise, you can be pretty inspiring when you want to be."

"Could I inspire you to have more really amazing sex? Because curfew isn't for another half an hour or so… We could try that roughness thing we talked about earlier"

"Holy shit, just shut up." And then he smiled, and then I smiled. And then I was suddenly possessed to stand up on my tiptoes and kiss him. It was the first time we had kissed, without then following it up with sex. It was strange. But in a good way, I guess. And apparently he felt the same way, as he kissed me back.

"Well, bye, then." I said, after I pulled away.

"Yeah, see you." He said, smiling.

As I walked away, I started smiling, but then I started feeling something else. It strangely resembled… nothing. I mean, I felt nothing. After the kiss. It was nice, being kissed like that. But it didn't mean anything to me. I really needed someone to talk to about this. And NOT Fred Weasley. That was a nightmare waiting to happen.

…

"You guys, I really need to talk to you."

Hermione and Ginny looked up to me with questioning eyes. On my way up to the common room, I had decided that if I needed someone to talk to, why not my two best friends? I was a little nervous discussing this whole Blaise/Malfoy thing with them, and I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I needed to get it off my chest.

"You ok, Tal?" Ginny said.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just need some SERIOUS girl talk right now, and we're gonna need to leave the room for this."

"Wow. This shit must be serious."

"Yeah, let's go up to the dorm." Hermione said.

As we made our way to the stairs, we heard the familiar, "Lookin' good, Jackson!"

"Shut up, McLaggen!" I shouted back.

"That boy is such a whore." Said Ginny.

"You said it."

"Lately he's been… hitting on me or something." Said Hermione, disgusted.

"Oh boy, I bet that bugs the crap out of Ron." Ginny said.

"What are you talking about? Why would it bother Ronald?" Hermione said, denying the obvious. Ginny and I just shared an exasperated look.

"Ok, so spill. What's got you all flustered?" Hermione said once we got up to our room.

"Or should we say who?" Said Ginny, wagging her eyebrows, which made Hermione laugh.

"I'm insulted. Do you guys just assume that whenever I want to talk, it's going to be about sex?"

"Is it?" They said together.

"Well, yeah."

"Exactly."

"Come on you guys, this is serious."

"Ok, ok, talk. We'll listen." Ginny said. Hermione nodded.

"Ok, here it goes." I sighed. "Ok, for a while now, I've been hooking up with—someone."

They waited. "Are you going to tell us who?"

"Of course not."

"OK then, carry on."

"Well, we've been hooking up for a couple years now. And it's been really good. I mean, like, really, REALLY good. It's been like-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it."

"Anyway, a little bit ago we were having a really good time. I mean, I felt closer to him this time than I ever have. It was nice. And then, I accidentally opened my eyes during our… hooking up… and I saw… someone else's… face." I paused to take a breath.

"And I suppose you're not going to say whose face you saw." Ginny said.

"You got that right."

"Oh, come on, you have to give us something."

"Get used to disappointment." I giggled at my little joke. The other two gave me blank, vacant looks. "Oh, come on. You haven't seen The Princess Bride?" Still blank. Losers. "Whatever. Anyway, I was in the middle of having this amazing thing with B—I mean, the first guy. And then, the stupid second guy jumped in there and tried to ruin it."

"Wait, the second guy was actually there during… the hooking up?" Hermione asked.

"Ew, no, Hermione. Come on, keep up. I saw second guy's face, and it freaked me out! But then he was gone, and it was first guy again. And after, we started talking, which we don't do very much, and it was a nice conversation. He was really nice, and it felt really easy talking to him, you know? I really started to feel like we could have something… more."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Ginny asked.

"It would be, yeah. Except… When I looked up and saw second guy's face, I liked it. I mean, for some reason, it was like I WANTED it to be him. And then, after the hooking up, me and first guy started talking again. And again, it was really nice. So, I decided to risk it and kiss him. Which was weird, because usually when we kiss, it's more like pre-shagging snog fest. But this was just a nice, sweet, kiss. And he kissed me back, too. And that made me happy, just having a guy kiss me without expecting anything, you know? But it felt… normal. Just like a normal kiss. I didn't feel any sparks, or fireworks, or hear the bloody angel choir or anything." They sat there, just staring at me, for like a minute.

"Well, that's quite the dilemma you've got there, Talia." Said Ginny.

"No shit, Sherlock."

"What are you going to do?" Asked Hermione.

"I don't know! That's why I'm talking to you guys! This has never happened to me before! I've never felt this way before."

"Felt what way?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it. It's not love, yet, but it's definitely… something. Which sucks, because I really don't want to feel ANYTHING for this guy."

"Which guy?" Asked Ginny.

"The second one."

"Well, who were you thinking of most on your way up here?"

I paused. I really didn't want to say this.

"Come on, Talia, spit it out. We don't even know who either of these guys are." Said Hermione. I stayed silent.

Then Ginny shouted, "TALIA!"

"THE SECOND GUY, ALRIGHT? I can't stop thinking about the second guy. And earlier wasn't even the first time. I've been thinking about him for weeks now. And I hate it. Why can't it be the first guy I can't stop thinking about? He's way better!" And for the millionth time today, I did something I almost never, ever do in front of people (excluding Fred).

I cried.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Last Straw**

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night. I was still in my clothes, and there was dried mascara on my cheeks. How pathetic. I decided to get up and take a walk, but something was holding me down. I was lying on my bed, just like I had been last night, but now I was flanked by my two best friends. Hermione was on my right, with one arm draped over my body, and Ginny was on my left, with her arm linked through mine. I love my friends. Blaise was right, I needed this.

Blaise.

I felt too bad. I mean, it's not like what we had was super meaningful, anyway. But I felt like it could have been. And I think he felt the same way. But, I couldn't do it. Not with him, anyway. Ugh, that really sucked. Because I really wanted to be with Blaise. For starters, the sex was unbelieveable. But he was really sweet, and he actually cared, you know? And now I'm going to have to end it. Why, you ask? Well, I wish I could answer. But I can't, because I don't even know myself. It was just something I realized the night before as I cried my eyes out.

So I untangled myself from my two best friends, successfully not waking them up, and I left. I just needed to clear my head at first, but then I knew what I needed to do. I quickly scribbled a note on a piece of paper telling Blaise to meet me in the room we had just spent time in the previous day, knowing that he would be awake and get it. I charmed it so it would go to him on its own, and made my way over there.

He took a while to get there, so I had time to go over how I was going to do it. It shouldn't have been that hard, right? After what felt like hours of pacing, and crying, and wondering if I was about to do the right thing, he opened the door and walked in, looking amazing as usual. Thanks, Blaise.

"Hey, what's up? Everything all right? Or, are you just in the mood for some midnight hanky panky?" He said to me. I smiled.

"Charming, Blaise."

"I gotta say, I'm impressed. Two times in two days, that's pretty good for us. Usually it's once every couple weeks, or maybe a couple times a week if we're feeling it, but this-"

"Blaise, stop. I really need to talk to you." He stopped, and looked at me with sadness in his eyes.

"Shit. I know what that means." He sat down in a desk, so I took the one across from him.

"It's not like that Blaise, really. But I have to do this. Because I can't do this anymore. It's not what I want anymore."

"I had a feeling this was coming, actually." He said. I was surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've been just a little distant lately, you know? And I get it, what with all the dark times ahead and all that crap. You being Potter's friend and in the middle of all this 'Chosen One' stuff with him. There's a dark lord frolicking around the place, killing people, and whatnot."

"Well, I hardly think he's frolicking." I said. He smiled.

"I just thought, that with all that happening, we'd feel a little closer to each other, you know?"

"I know Blaise. I thought so to. For a while, I thought we might actually have something more, eventually. And I wanted that. But I don't think we're ready. And…"

"There's someone else now, right?" That caught me off guard.

"Well, yeah, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I mean, I don't even really know him that well. Not to mention I despise him. He probably doesn't even feel the same way. And It's not like I'm in love with him or anything like that. Because I'm not. But I can't get him out of my head, and I can't stand it. And now I feel like that's just one more thing I've been doing wrong with you."

"Hey, now. Don't feel that way. I understand. I mean, I sort of get why we have to end this. Because I could see us having something more, too. But we've come too far to start over. This could never be a normal relationship. But that's what you deserve. Something real, and normal." I started to well up. "Please don't start crying, Talia, it's making me feel uncomfortable."

"Blaise, you're so sweet."

"And that's totally what every guy wants to hear."

"Blaise, you're so sweet, but you're even more sexy."

"Much better, thank you." And then we laughed, and hugged, and parted ways. I still felt crappy, but in a relieved sort of way. But amazingly, I still needed to let out some crying. God, that must be why I didn't cry very often. It was annoying, unattractive, and gave me a headache. I went back to my room, to find the other two still fast asleep on my bed. Not wanting to disturb them, I got into my pajamas and crashed on Hermione's bed, and had a nice, dreamless sleep.

…

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, and in a cheery mood. I even woke up on time for a change, so I had time to just lie there and enjoy the silence (aside from Ginny's elephant snoring). It only lasted about five minutes, but still. It was nice. When I heard Ginny's snoring stop, I turned over to wait for her to fully awake. I didn't even notice that Hermione was also waking up, but she's a pretty quiet sleeper.

"Hey…. How'd you get all the way over there?" Said Ginny, Groggily.

"Oh, I had a little sleeping issue last night, so I got up and took a walk." I said.

"Really? Where'd you go?" Asked Hermione.

"Oh, you know. Around."

"What did you do?" Asked Ginny.

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?"

"Oh, come on, Talia. You know we're just concerned. Last night you fell asleep crying." Ginny asked again, which made me feel a little bad for snapping.

"I'm sorry you guys. I shouldn't have gotten annoyed. If you must know, I broke it off with First Guy last night."

"What! Really? How'd it go? How'd he take it?" Hermione asked.

"Did you have break-up sex?" Asked Ginny. We both just stared at her, and then she blushed. "Well, sorry, I'm just a very curious virgin, that's all."

"You're so cute. And, no, we didn't have break-up sex. It went just fine, and he took it amazingly. He was super sweet and a total gentleman, which, of course, made me feel worse about it."

"Oh, I think you did the right thing." Said Hermione.

"Thanks. I do to, actually. Now that I've slept on it, I feel really good about it."

"Yes! Now, let's spend this Saturday in style by collecting the guys and making them watch us shop!" Yelled Ginny, and I laughed.

"Hear hear!"

It was a blast. We never could get the guys to follow us around, but that's ok. It was just as fun without their usual complaining. Ginny had been saving up for a while for a new dress for Slughorn's Christmas party, so we had to shop for that. Hermione was also shopping for a dress for the same party, which made me feel left out.

"Man, I wish I was going to this party." I said with a sigh.

"It's not going to be very big, you know. And I didn't think you'd be very interested." Said Hermione.

"I'm ALWAYS interested in an excuse to buy a new dress, and show off my hot body." I said, gesturing to myself.

"Well, if you want, you can always come as my date." Said Ginny.

"Seriously?"

"Totally!"

"Alright! Now I get to buy a new dress!"

"AND Show off your hot body!"

"YAY!" We all shouted together.

Unsurprisingly, there was only one store in Hogsmeade to buy dresses. Surprisingly, it had a pretty nice selection. It was probably because since the party was so far off, no one had really thought about what they were going to wear. I was proud of us for thinking ahead of the game. And it was fun to see how different our dress choices were. Ginny was going for more of a classy look, while Hermione, as always, wanted something pretty yet modest. I, however, was going for something completely different.

Ginny's dress was beautiful. It was this deep, emerald green with a sort of purple-ish trim, and it fit her perfectly. Hermione's dress, was no less gorgeous, as it was a very pale pink with a V-shaped neckline and knee length skirt. As I looked at myself in the mirror, the only thing that came to mind was pure perfection. It was dark blue (Which I liked, because it made my eyes an even icier blue than usual), strapless, mid-thigh, and VERY form fitting. I looked so hot, it should have been illegal. I walked out, hoping to get similar reactions from my friends, and was not disappointed at all.

"Holy shit, Tal, you look amazing!" Shouted Ginny.

"It's perfect. SO you." Said Hermione smiling.

"I know, right? It's like I was meant for this dress."

"Lookin' good, Talia. Maybe we should go to Slughorn's party together, eh?" McLaggen said from the doorway, where he had leaned in to check out girls trying on outfits.

"You wish, McLaggen." I said to him.

"Hey, you're loss." He started to leave, but when he saw Hermione, did a very tiny double take. "'Sup, Hermione?"

"Uh, the sky?" She said, not looking at him. He chuckled and left.

"Whoa, Hermione. He's totally got the hots for you. Too bad your heart already belongs to someone, right?" I said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

"Let's get back to how drop dead gorgeous you look in this dress, Tal." Said Ginny. "I bet it's going to make First Guy totally miss you even more, and it's going to make Second Guy want you SO BAD."

"Ugh. Don't remind me." I said. I didn't want to think about Blaise OR Malfoy right now. Of course, as I found out next, we don't always get what we want, do we?

"Hey guys, look." Hermione said, gesturing to the window at the front.

Right there, staring straight at me, was Blaise and Malfoy. Seriously? Blaise was looking at me, not in a gross way, but in a friendly way. I smiled back to him, making sure no one noticed. Then he gestured to my dress and nodded in approval, which made me smile even more. When I looked at Malfoy, he was also staring at me, but with totally different eyes. He looked… Well, the only word that comes to mind is hungry. He was looking at me with longing, like he hadn't eaten in a week. I looked at him and frowned, which Blaise saw, so he pushed Malfoy on. Thank you, Blaise.

"Ugh, Slytherins. It's like an infestation." Said Ginny.

"Tell me about it. Let's get changed and go pick out shoes now." I said.

"You know guys, I'm totally not ashamed of how poor my family is, but I gotta say I LOVE having money. Even if it is for just a little while. I don't know how you guys don't go crazy every chance you get having, as much money as you do." Ginny said, Mostly joking. Mostly.

"Well, my parents would murder me if I recklessly spent their money on things I didn't need. I had to ask their permission to buy this stuff." Said Hermione.

"I just don't feel right about spending my parents' money. It's not like I can ask their permission, so I only buy nice things once in a while for special occasions." I said, a little sad.

"I'm sorry, Tal, I totally forgot-"

"Don't feel bad, Ginny. It's ok, really." I said. "I don't bring it up much, because I don't like to bring people down. And it really doesn't bother me that much anymore." Now we were all sitting in a circle, in the shoe section, surrounded by shoes, but too deep in conversation to keep looking at them. I had already spotted the pair I wanted, anyway. Ah, Christian Louboutin, how I loved you.

"How can it not bother you? It was such a terrible thing. Even Harry thinks it was worse for you, because of how much time you got to spend with them, and your sister…" Said Hermione.

"Honestly? Because I've been dreaming about that day for a while now."

"What! Why didn't you say anything!" She yelled at me.

"Yeah, and how does that make it any better?" Ginny asked.

"Because the more I remember it, the better the details get. You guys, my parents' bodies weren't there with my sister. That means they could still be out there."

"Talia, the chances-"

"I know the chances are next to nothing, Hermione. I know that. But… I need this. I need this little ray of hope, ok? I need to believe that they're still out there, and not dead. Because if they were, it would be all my fault."

"You've got to stop saying that. It's not your fault at all. You didn't know what was happening. You didn't even know back then, about you being… you." Said Ginny.

"Nice cover up Ginny, you could be a spy." I said with much, much sarcasm.

"I know, right?" She said, smiling.

"Can we please change the subject? I'm having a really good day, I don't want to go and depress it all up."

"I agree. All this shopping has worn me out. I need a nap." Said Hermione, trying to smother a yawn.

"Amateur." I said, and Ginny laughed.

About a week had passed, and I was still happy about my decision to break up with Blaise. But I was starting to realize something I didn't expect: I wanted sex! I wanted it so bad. It used to be that whenever I felt this way, I could just find Blaise and we'd go take care of it somewhere. But I couldn't now, because I'd gone and broken up with him! It was so frustrating. I had to start taking cold showers. I had to start thinking of ways to calm myself down. I even, one night, had a dream about hooking up with McClaggen. Ugh, I know. It wasn't my proudest moment.

I woke up from the dream, more like a hideous nightmare, and would have screamed if not for the sleeping girls in the room. I needed a walk. Maybe outside. Maybe right into the Black Lake. Yeah, that might do the trick. No, maybe I'd just go take a shower and then go for a walk.

After my shower, I went into my drawer, only to discover that I had been neglecting to do my laundry for too long. All I had left was "Special" underwear. Like, the stuff that only Blaise saw. Where had I gotten all this stuff? Huh. Well, it's not like anyone was going to see me in it. And if they did, that wouldn't be so bad. So I threw some on, the cute lacey black ones with a little gold bow on the front of the bra, and a gold Batman Utility Belt on the underwear. I'm such a geek. I put on some clean pajamas, grabbed a sweatshirt, and went for a walk. It was amazing, the lack of security around here. Five and a half years of sneaking out, and I've never been caught. Of course, most of that was because Fred and George were always there to take the fall for me. I missed them.

I had no idea where I was going to go, as always. Was I ever going to sleep all the way through the night here? It didn't seem so. As I was meandering through the halls, I saw Draco Malfoy take the steps and turns that lead to the Room of Requirement. Are you kidding me? What's he doing in there? I got super angry suddenly, and making a spur of the moment decision that I would most likely later regret, I followed him. He was gonna get it this time. I opened the door to find him standing there, hand in his hair as if in frustration, in his usual suit attire, minus the jacket.

"Malfoy, we need to talk." I said at him sternly.

"What do you want? I'm not in the mood for your stupid bitching."

"Are you just dead set on ruining my life?"

"What are you talking about? YOU followed ME up here! Don't think I didn't hear your footsteps!"

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it!" We were slowly making our way towards each other.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. I couldn't care less about you're pathetic little life, or whatever sob story you're going to try and throw at me."

"Why are you so infuriating? We were in a good place, me and him. And then you had to go and get yourself stuck in my head and ruin everything!"

"Who?"

"Don't play stupid, Malfoy. I know you're doing all this on purpose, somehow!" Now we were pretty close.

"Doing what?!"

"You're just such a jerk! Why did I have to see your face?"

"I have no idea what you think I did, but you've obviously got me confused with someone that gives a shit." Now we were right up close to each other. What was happening?

"Could you be any more infuriating?"

"Oh, I'M the one that's infuriating?"

"Yes, you!"

"You're crazy!"

"You're an asshole!"

And then he grabbed my shoulders and crashed our lips together. It was the angriest, sexiest, and most awesome kiss I'd ever had. His hands moved down to my waist and gripped it even tighter, and he lifted me up so my legs could wrap around his waist, much like Blaise did before. Only, this was… better. Malfoy's mouth moved down to my neck, and then my collar bone, and I gripped his hair in between my fingers like I had secretly longed to do for so long. I let out a moan, and that seemed to spur him on even more. He started to back up, but tripped and fell onto a mattress, complete with pillows and blankets. Had that been there before? Oh. Room of Requirement. Right.

Now I was on top of him, and I was finally able to let out all this sexual tension that had been inside me. It felt amazing. We took turns flipping each other, and since we hated each other, we didn't have to worry about being too rough. I loved it. Before I knew it, I was beneath him, all our clothes were off, we were under a blanket, and we were having sex. Sweet, sweet sex. How I had missed this. It was a shame that it had to be with this guy. But I had to admit—he was SO good at this. This was better than any sex I had ever had with Blaise, and I didn't even think that was possible. One of my hands was still in his hair, and the other was gripping the pillow behind me. And it went on forever.

Well, it went on for a few hours, but still. It could have been forever.

…

"Holy shit." I said.

"Yeah, you mentioned that a few times already." Malfoy said, looking at me with satisfaction.

"That was…. By far… THE best sex… I've ever had." It was hard to get the words out, because I was still trying to catch my breath.

"Ever? So, like, how much sex have you had?"

"Oh, a bit, I guess."

"Oh please. You were WAY too good at it, to only have had sex 'a bit'"

"Jealous, Malfoy?"

"Of course not!" He said, and looked away. We were still clinging to each other, our legs entangled, and we somehow had pushed the pillows off the bed, so my head was resting on his arm.

"I have a confession to make." I said.

"And that is?"

"I love sex. Like, a lot. And it's been a while, for me at least, so you really did me a favor there."

"Well, I'm happy I could be of service to you." There was a few moments of silence, and then, "I have a confession to make, too."

"Oh really? Do tell." I said, and propped my elbow up so I could see him better. And then he got all nervous and looked away again. "Oh, come on. Don't leave me hangin'."

"I… Don't… Hate you." Oh.

"Well, I guess I don't hate you, either. I thought I did, but I've been doubting that for the last few hours." And I laughed, but he stayed serious. "Oh, do you mean… Do you have… Feelings for me?" He looked at me. Oh.

"Oh. Well… Since when?"

"I don't even know. I guess for a while, but I didn't realize it until recently."

"What made you realize?"

"Well, actually, last week. When Blaise got a note, I assume from you, and snuck out to meet you. I saw him go into the room, and then saw you both come out, and I got jealous." He paused, and chuckled. "I couldn't believe it. I was jealous of my best friend for sleeping with the girl I hadn't even realized my feelings for yet."

"Well… We've been hooking up for a while. Like, a couple years." He looked up at me, and his face turned red.

"I'll kill that bastard!" I laughed.

"Calm down there, tiger. Actually, that night you saw us, we weren't having sex."

"Really?" He looked hopeful. Cute.

"Actually, I was ending it."

"Why?"

"Because…. The last time we did it, I saw your face." Silence, and I laid my head back down. But after a few minutes, he propped his head up to look at me.

"So…. You have feelings for me too?"

"I guess so. How did this happen?"

"Beats me. I don't think we'll ever know, really." He smiled. "At least this means very much awesome sex for our very near future, right?" I sat up.

"Actually, no. I'm sorry Malfoy, I can't do that anymore. The other reason why I broke up with Blaise, was that I didn't want to be in that place anymore. I've never been in an actual relationship, and I realized how much I wanted one. I can't just leave a relationship based on sex, just to end up in another one a week later. It makes me feel… Cheap." I started to get up and gather my clothes, not wanting to see the look of disappointment on his face. Then he got up too.

"Wait! How do you know that sex is all I want?" I turned to him.

"Isn't it?"

"I don't know, really. But I'm willing to try. With you."

"You would do that? For me? Take things slow?"

"Yeah. I would. I feel like if I let you walk out of here, not even bothering to try and chase you, I'll be missing out on something amazing." I could have cried, right there.

"I don't know, Malfoy. You do know this means actually WORKING at this, right? Do you realize what this is going to take?" Instead of an answer with words, he took my head in his hands, and kissed me. Not the angry, heat-filled kiss from before… but sweet, and equally as passionate. When he let me go, I broke into a huge grin, and finished getting dressed.

"So, I guess I'll see you… When I see you?" I said, and not waiting for an answer, I turned to go. But from behind me, when he did answer me, he used the line from my favorite movie, the three words that changed my life forever.

"As you wish."


	8. Chapter 8

**The New Me**

Draco POV

I felt… New. Happy. Which, of course, I couldn't show to anyone, because I'm supposed to be all depressed and crap. But I wasn't anymore. Not when I thought of her. She made me better. And when I was with her, I felt like I could accomplish anything. Even that horrible task I was chosen for. Of course, when I thought of that, my mood dampened a bit. Everyone was always going on about how Potter is 'The Chosen One', but they had no idea about what I was chosen for. Not even Talia. How was I going to tell her? About me being a death eater now and this awful task I had to do. And how if I DIDN'T complete this task, The Dark Lord would kill me and my family.

And how did I know I could trust her? I hated to admit it, but she WAS friends with Potter, who was constantly trying to stop me. He was the only one who had guessed. But thankfully, no one believed him. But if I told her, would she believe him? Would it turn her against me, and make her tell him everything?

But I think I did trust her. I don't know why, but I did. Still, I think I would wait a little while to tell her. I wasn't sure how to do it. Another thing I wasn't sure of was how I was going to convince her that I could do this relationship. Because I KNEW I could. She's so worth it. She was just so… perfect.

And then I knew. It was a great idea. A perfect idea, for a perfect girl. Man, I was such a sap now. But I didn't give a shit. She gave me hope. This was going to be good.

Talia POV

I felt so… New. So perfect. So, myself. I was the new me. I was still the old me, but a new version of the old me. How did this happen? How could MALFOY make me feel this way? It was so confusing. But I didn't care. God, he was so perfect. How did I not see it before? Of course, in my defense, he WAS a slimy git for five years. But something had changed him. Maybe it was me. I didn't know, but I liked it. People thought I was crazy. Skipping through the halls and smiling and crap would do that to you. I hoped it would stop after a little bit, because it was SO not me.

It was almost Halloween now, a holiday which I had always loved. I loved the decorations, I loved the candy, and I LOVED the costumes. We always had a costume party in the Great Hall the day before Halloween, because you just COULDN'T not have the feast on the actual day. Only people who were in their fourth year or up could go. I know it was a little wrong, but I always loved to wear a really slutty costume. And of course, me and Blaise would always hook up. Actually, our fourth year at the Halloween party was the first time we had hooked up. But this year, it was going to be all Malfoy. I was so excited. I was going to wear a costume that would knock the pants off him, maybe even literally.

But, my plans for dressing up were stopped. By none other than Malfoy, actually. I was walking down the hallway, on my way to lunch, two days before the party, when I saw him leaning against a pillar. When I caught his eye, I smiled at him, and he winked at me. And then he gestured his head, meaning to follow him.

"Hey guys, I forgot something in the common room. I'll meet you at the table, ok? Save me some potatoes."

"Which potatoes? The chips, the mashed, or the baked?" Asked Harry.

"Yes." And I pretended to walk back the other way, waited until they entered the Great Hall, and bolted towards where Draco was. He started walking down a hallway, stopping when there weren't any more students passing us. I ran up to him and kissed the crap out of him, almost knocking him down.

"I missed you. I hate that we have to keep this quiet, because I don't know how long I can go of watching you in potions before getting up and ripping your clothes off in front of everyone." I said to him. He laughed a deep, throaty laugh.

"Whoa there. I thought we were taking things slow." He said.

"Well, I changed my mind."

"Oh, no you don't. We're doing things right. That means slowly." I pouted.

"Aw, poopy."

"Gasp! Such language!" I laughed.

"Well, can we still snog?"

He never answered me. As we kissed, I couldn't help but smile. He was a really good kisser. After a few minutes, he pulled away from me. Reluctantly, I let him.

"Ok, I actually brought you here so we could talk." He said.

"Just so you know, you should never say those words unless you're going to break up with someone. And you can't break up with me, I forbid it." I said, playfully.

"Oh, you forbid it, do you?"

"Yep, I do. And my word is law, so you're basically stuck with me."

"Well then, I guess we should go out on a date." That caught me by surprise.

"What?"

"That's why I brought you here. Not to break up with you, but to ask you out on a nice, proper date. On Friday."

"But… that's the day of the costume party."

"Yes, it is."

"I was going to wear a really sexy costume and see if you could find me."

"Trust me, this will be better."

"You promise?"

"I'll even pinky swear on it."

"Whoa. This must be a really good date you've got planned."

"Oh, it is. Now, we've got to go to lunch, because I'm really hungry. And I know you are too."

"Can't we just stay here for a few more minutes?"

"Come on." And he started pulling me back down the hallway. I liked this, walking hand in hand. I'd never done this before.

"Hey, Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"Should we… tell people about us?"

"I haven't thought about it very much, actually."

"Have you told anyone?"

"No. The only one I'd want to tell is Blaise, and I don't think he'd take it very well at the moment." He said, with a little laugh. "Have you?"

"No way. All my friends hate you."

"So I guess that means we're going to have to keep this a secret. For now, I guess." He said.

"I guess so." That made me a little sad. This was the first real, honest relationship I'd ever been in, and I couldn't tell anyone I cared about.

"Ok, so should I go in first, or you?" He asked me.

"Are you kidding? I'm so going in first. Harry's saving me some potatoes." This made him laugh.

"Oh, well then you MUST go in first. For the sake of the potatoes."

"For the sake of the potatoes." I repeated, but I didn't move right away. Instead, I wanted to try something. I stood up on my tiptoes, and pressed my lips against his. It was just like the kiss I shared with Blaise, but so much better. I felt all the things that Blaise didn't make me feel. Sparks flew, angels sang, and I felt like I was flying. It was amazing. When I turned to leave, I suddenly remembered something, and turned back to him.

"Wait, I don't know where or what time our date is."

"I'll let you know."

"How?"

"Just trust me!"

"Ok fine!" And with that, I went into the Great Hall. When I got to the Gryffindor table, my friends were staring at me with startled looks on their faces.

"What're all your problems?" I said after I had sat down and stuffed a few chips in my mouth.

"Why are you smiling so much?" Said Ron.

"I smile all the time."

"Well yeah, but not like this. It's like you're…"

"I'm happy, Ronald. Sue me." I said. I noticed Ginny and Hermione both still looking at me, with knowing smiles on their faces. They didn't know as much as they thought.

"Anyway, back to our original subject—" Started Hermione, but Harry cut her off

"Give it a rest, Hermione!"

"No, Harry! You've got to turn it in, it could be dangerous!"

"Hermione, how could a book be dangerous?" Asked Ron, taking Harry's side.

"Are you guys talking about the whole 'Half-Blood Prince' situation?" I asked.

"Yes. Can you please tell Harry that the right thing to do is to turn it in?" Hermione asked me.

"No, can you tell Hermione that the SMART thing to do is keep using it?" Harry asked.

"Actually Harry, this time I've got to take Hermione's side. You know you're one of my best friends, but you have no idea what the stuff in this book can do. What happens if you try one of the spells out, and it ends up hurting someone? And besides, even if it is making you brilliant at Potions, it's not REALLY you. It's this Half-Blood Prince guy." I said.

"Are you kidding me?" Said Ron.

"Whatever. I'm done talking about this." Said Harry, obviously angry at Hermione and me. Whatever. We're right, and sooner or later, he'd figure that out. Even if it was the hard way.

….

Later, we were all sitting in the common room by the fire. It was nice and quiet, watching the first of the snow falling out the window. Ron was going on about how he had killed Quidditch tryouts, but I wasn't really listening. I was gazing out the window, when I saw something flying toward it. An owl, it looked like.

"Hey you guys, something's coming for the window." I said, and then I got up and opened it so the owl wouldn't have to wait long. It hopped in and dropped a letter at my feet, and only left when I gave it a snack. Typical owl.

"Who's it from?" Asked Hermione.

"I have no idea." But that was a small lie, because I did have an idea as to who it was from. And when I opened it and started reading, I found out I was right.

_Dear Talia,_

_I'm writing this to you over supper. I told my owl to deliver it to you when you're alone, so you don't have to explain anything._

_You know that trail in Hogsmead that leads to the Shrieking Shack? Go down that path, but take the right when you see a faint, barely noticeable trail. Meet me there at five o'clock on Friday, ok? And where something warm, since it just started snowing today. I promise, next time I'll pick somewhere warm._

_M_

Apparently my friends had been watching me in silence the entire time, because as I re-read it, I heard someone clear their throat.

"What?" I said.

"Well, who's it from, then?" Asked Ron.

"It's none of your business!"

"Oh, come on. It's not like its anything bad, right?" Asked Harry.

"Well, not really."

"Then tell us!" They said together. So I panicked, and quickly crumpled it up and tossed in the fire.

"Oh, no, oops! Well, sorry guys, I guess you'll never know." Hermione laughed.

Five O'clock, Friday, in Hogsmead.

I was SO excited.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Unexpected Guest**

I was SO nervous!

This had never happened to me before. I was always a very confident girl, I never questioned my choice in clothes or how my hair looked, because I'd never cared what anyone thought of me before.

But now, as everyone was getting ready for the Halloween party, I was busy stressing because I didn't know what outfit to wear to the date. What did Malfoy like? What colors would he like on me? Should I put on some perfume?

And then I told myself, hold up a sec, Talia! Who cares what he likes! It shouldn't matter what you wear to him! And I was like, you're right, Talia! Just pick something you KNOW you look good in! So I picked a nice, light blue outfit, with skinny jeans (and leggings underneath, so I'd stay warm), and my super warm white jacket. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was impressed. Yeah, that's right. I was lookin' good.

I waited until the party started, and everyone was out of the common room, to leave. As I made my way to Hogsmead, I started to get really excited. Who would've thought that MALFOY could make me feel this way? I wished I could tell someone. I wished I could tell Fred and George. And maybe I would get to, someday. But not anytime soon.

I found the path to the Shrieking Shack, and followed it until I found the turn he told me about. And when I found Malfoy, he was in this tiny little clearing under a tree that hadn't lost any of its leaves yet. His back was to me, he was wearing his usual black suit attire (which I thought he looked amazing in, by the way). There were candles everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. They were hanging in the tree and surrounding the little picnic he had setup, with blankets and pillows. There was some food, some drinks which looked suspiciously like hot chocolate, and it all looked amazing. He was just lighting the last candle when I decided to say something.

"Wow, you weren't kidding." I apparently startled him, and he turned to look at me with worry in his eyes.

"Is it too much?"

"Of course not. This is beautiful!" I said to him, and walked up and threw my arms around his neck. "I can honestly say this is a pleasant surprise."

"What, you didn't think I could pull something like this off?"

"Well, can you blame me?"

"No, not really. Come on, let's get under the tree before we freeze."

"Ok. Hey, how did you do this? I mean, with the tree, and all the snow being gone under it?"

"I enchanted it a while ago so it wouldn't die when winter came. So I'd have somewhere to come and be by myself."

"Well, now that I know about it, you might have to find somewhere else to be alone."

"I don't mind being alone with you." And then we started eating. There wasn't anything much, just some fruit and crackers and stuff. The hot chocolate was amazing, and the food was delicious, which made me think of another question.

"So, how'd you get all this food?"

"Well, I got some from the kitchen at Hogwarts, and the hot chocolate I got from the Three Broomsticks."

"Ah, I see. What about the blankets and pillows and candles?"

"I can't tell you ALL of my secrets, now."

"Ok, fine! Let's start with some other questions, then. So tell me Malfoy, what do you want to be when you grow up?" I asked, like a little child. This made him laugh.

"Seriously?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Ok then. Honestly, when I was little, I wanted to be just like my father. He was so powerful, and so respected. I thought he was brilliant."

"You thought? What changed your mind?"

"When I found out what he really was."

"And that is…?"

"Not good." I could tell he didn't want to elaborate, so I didn't make him.

"Ok. Well, what do you want to be now? After Hogwarts, I mean."

"Well, not that it matters much, but what I'd really like to be is a Healer."

"Really? That's…"

"Stupid?"

"No, it's brilliant." I smiled at him. Something told me he'd never told that to anyone before. "MINE'S the one that's dumb."

"What is it?"

"Well, for the longest time I wanted to be a singer. But when I realized that that's never going to happen, it changed a bit."

"A singer? That's adorable. Why can't you? Can you sing?"

"Yes, I can sing. But I can't."

"That's confusing. You can sing, but you can't sing? How does that work?"

"Now that's a secret for another time, Mr. Malfoy."

"Ok, then. What do you want to be now?"

"Well, I'd really like to work with Fred and George at their shop for a while, but eventually I'd like to open my own book store. Or maybe a bakery. I can't decide."

"How about a bookstore bakery?"

"What an idea!" We laughed. "Hey Malfoy?"

"Yeah?"

"I kind of want to snog for a bit."

"Well hey, you don't have to tell me twice." And we snogged. It was nice. I really like to kiss. We started by just sitting and kissing, but then we started to get a little crazy. For a while, we kissed while he was above me, and then we'd switch. It went on for about fifteen minutes, until we were back in our original sitting position. And then he suddenly stiffened.

"What's up? Why'd you stop?"

"There's a huge, black dog sitting over there, watching us."

"What!" And sure enough, when I turned around, there he was. Watching us. "SNUFFLES!" I got up and ran to him. By the time I reached him, he was fully human and ready to hug.

"Hey there, Talia."

"I've missed you! Why haven't you visited us recently? What are you doing here? Are you on the run again?"

"Whoa, slow down there, speedy. I'm sorry I haven't visited recently. I'm staying here in town, so I can visit you guys. No, I'm not on the run again. You made sure of that." And he smiled at me.

"Oh come on now. It wasn't just me, Harry and Dumbledore did most of the work."

"Yes, but you had a huge part in saving my life. If you hadn't done that, it wouldn't matter whether or not they cleared my name."

"True, true." And we hugged some more.

"So, who's you're, um, friend? Why is he staring at us?" And then I remembered Malfoy. Oh man, I can't believe I forgot about my boyfriend. He he, I had a boyfriend!

"Oh, I'm sorry guys! Sirius, this is Draco Malfoy. Malfoy, this is-" But he cut me off.

"TALIA, WHY ARE YOU HUGGING SIRIUS BLACK?" He yelled. Oops.

"Well. He's one of my family's oldest friends. He's like an uncle."

"BUT, HE'S… HE'S…" Oh brother.

"Malfoy, you KNOW his name has been cleared. He was innocent the whole time. Honestly. Sorry about this, Sirius."

"Hey, no worries. I'm used to still being treated like a murderer by now."

"Ok, ok, I'm good now. Sirius Black is your friend. I got this." Malfoy said, after taking a few minutes to recover.

"That's good. And honestly, I can't believe I didn't realize you were a Malfoy." Said Sirius. Uh oh.

"Um, why is that?" I asked.

"Well, he's got the same hair as his father. And Talia? Care to tell me what you're doing with a Malfoy? I can assume Harry doesn't know, right?"

"Uh, yes. Harry doesn't know. But what Harry also doesn't know is that Malfoy is amazing, and totally not what everyone thinks. He's different." I said, and I smiled at him. He smiled back, though a little uneasy. I wonder what that was about.

"Well, I trust you. And I think if you gave him the chance, Harry would too."

"Well, considering Harry is under the impression that Malfoy is a death eater just like his father, I think I'm going to wait a while." And Malfoy looked away from us.

"Well, I think I'll let you get back to your… picnic." He looked knowingly at us, and got up to leave. "Talia, come over here a sec." I followed him a few feet away.

"What's up?"

"You realize that since your parents aren't here to do it, and I assume you're not going to tell Arthur, that I have to give him whole 'If you hurt her' speech?"

"I'd really rather you didn't. I can give it to him just fine."

"Oh, I know you can. You're totally your mother's daughter. Speaking of, have you two had sex yet?"

"Charming, dude. Yes, we had sex once. No, it SO was not my first time."

"Really? Who was it then?"

"His best friend." And with that, he fist-bumped me and then hugged me.

"You make your uncle Sirius proud." And he left me to get back to my date. But not before giving Malfoy one last hard glance.

"So. You're really good friends with Sirius Black. Any other big secrets you want to tell me?" Draco said, once I was sitting comfortably next to him again.

"No, of course not. Well, none as big as that one, anyway." Small lie.

"Ok, good." He said, jokingly.

"How about you? You have any dark, dangerous secrets that you haven't told me?"

"No. Of course not." And again, he looked away.

"Hey, you alright? You seem a little… uneasy about something." He took a little time to answer. And then he blurted it all at once.

"Do Harry and the others really think I'm a Death Eater?"

"Well, Hermione and Ron think he's nuts, but Harry does believe that. And I'm not gonna lie, I did too. But I don't think so anymore. I don't think a Death Eater would be so good at sex." I said, snuggling close to him. He chuckled.

"Well, I'm glad to know you're so confident in me."

"Hey Malfoy, we have to discuss something serious for like, five minutes. And then we can get back to what was so rudely interrupted."

"And that is?"

"It's about my friends. Now that were together, you can't just keep treating them the way you've been treating them for the last five and a half years."

"Talia, you know I wouldn't."

"I'm serious. No making fun of Ron's family, no more of that awful 'M' word toward Hermione, and you HAVE to lay off Harry. He's under a lot of stress right now, and the last thing he needs is for you to cause him more."

"Talia. I promise."

"Ok. Thank you. Now, let's finish this food and hot cocoa, and head back up to the castle. We're already out past curfew, I expect."

"You got it."

…

"Talia, you've got some explaining to do." I had gotten up to the room and fallen asleep in my bed, before anyone got back from the party. And a few hours later, I had awoken to see Hermione in her sexy witch costume (which took me MONTHS to convince her to wear), and Ginny in her sexy pirate costume, standing next to my bed with their arms folded like it was an interrogation. (polyvore (Ignore the hair colors))

"What? I got bored at the party, I couldn't find you guys, so I came up here and went to sleep."

"Oh, don't lie. We KNOW you weren't at that party; there wasn't anyone with your Siren costume." Ginny said.

"SHHH! It's a mermaid. MERMAID! And what's with all the girls wearing sexy costumes, anyway? That's a little concerning, don't you think? Me, I blame the parents-"

"TALIA! What is with you? You're lying to us, and sneaking away, and you're missing everything. What is going on?" Asked Hermione. I sighed. They were right; I have to give them something.

"Ok, ok, you guys are right. I'm sorry."

"That's ok. Just tell us what's going on, so we know you're ok." Ginny said.

"You remember the whole 'First Guy and Second Guy' situation I was in a while ago?"

"Yeah." They said together.

"Well… after I broke up with First Guy, I sort of ran into Second guy, and we… um…"

"Did you have sex?" Asked Ginny.

"Yes."

"Oh my God!" They both squealed.

"Shhh! It's not something I want all of Hogwarts to hear!"

"Well, sorry! But Tal, I thought that's why you broke up with First Guy. Because you didn't want that kind of relationship anymore." Hermione said.

"It was. And that's why after we had sex, I told him that I wouldn't be with him if that was all he wanted."

"And?" Said Ginny. They were both sitting on my bed now, leaning towards me like I was a storyteller. Well, I guess I actually was, right then.

"He stopped me and told me that he wanted to do it the slow way, if that's what it took to stay with me."

"Oh, how romantic!" Said Hermione, gushing.

"I know! And so for the past few weeks, we've been secretly meeting up, and kissing, and talking, but not having sex. And tonight, we had our first date." I said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

"Talia, that's amazing!" Said Ginny.

"I know. And I'm so happy with him. I think this is the happiest I've been since the night my sister died." I said. They both hugged me.

"This is so awesome. Do you love him?" Asked Ginny.

"Well… yeah, I think I do. Holy shit. I do!" I said, laughing at this realization.

"AH! Yay! Do you think he feels the same way?" Asked Hermione.

"Maybe. I think he could, but I can't be sure. I hope so. But just in case, I think I'll wait to tell him until I'm sure he does."

"I think that's a good idea." Said Ginny.

"And you're sure you won't tell us who he is?" Asked Hermione, already knowing the answer.

"Nope." They would murder me, for sure. After about ten minutes of them trying to guess who he is (amazingly, they never even tried guessing Draco Malfoy OR Blaise Zabini, but they DID guess Ron, Harry, and even Colin Creevey), we decided to get into our pajamas and go to bed.

"Oh! I can't believe I forgot to mention! During our date, Sirius showed up!"

"WHAT? You talked to Sirius, and you just FORGOT about it?" Yelled Hermione.

"Hey, leave her alone! She's in love!" Ginny shouted at her.

"Thanks, Ginny. Yeah, he's staying at the Three Broomsticks so he can spend some time with us, since he's FINALLY done with all the court stuff he's had to do."

"God, took them long enough"

"I know right?"

"So, hold up a sec. You're saying that Sirius crashed your date tonight?" Ginny asked. Duh.

"Yeah. Where have you been the last half an hour?"

"So, what you're saying is, Sirius knows who this guy is." Hermione said, catching on. Crap.

"Maybe."

"And, MAYBE, he might know who the other guy was, too." Ginny said, smiling a very evil smile. Double crap.

"Possibly."

"Interesting." Hermione said, and they shut off their lights.

"You guys, don't even think about trying anything. I already told Sirius that I don't want anyone to know."

"Oh, we wouldn't dream of it." Said Ginny.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm going to sleep."

"Goodnight!" They said together. Evil masterminds.


	10. Chapter 10

**The First Match**

Love was weird. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like being in love. But it did funny things to your head. The sun seemed brighter, and jokes seemed funnier. I even started doing better in my classes. There was this one day, a couple weeks later, that Slughorn decided to put us in pairs for our assignment, and for some reason he didn't want two people in the same house in the same group. So he started pairing us off, and by amazing chance, he paired me with Malfoy. We pretended to be mad and complain about it, but the whole time during class we played footsie under the table and snuck sexy glances at each other. One time, though, I did look up and catch Hermione's eye. And then I looked over, and Blaise was also looking. He looked sad. Shit. After class, Malfoy and I followed Blaise into a deserted hallway so we could talk to him.

"Blaise, wait." I said to him.

"You guys, its ok. Really. I just need some time to process this." He said.

"Just wait, we should talk about this." Malfoy said to Blaise, and he turned to face us.

"Ok, fine. Talk."

"Look, it's not like we planned this. Or even wanted this. At first." I said to him. He looked at me with hurt in his eyes.

"So is this the guy you talked about when we broke up?" He said, glaring at Malfoy.

"Yes, Blaise. But we hadn't even done anything before then."

"Oh, that makes everything ok, then." Sarcasm. Nice.

"Hey, now. Don't blame her. She did the right thing by you." Malfoy said.

"Don't even talk about the right thing, Malfoy. You have no idea."

"Blaise! I thought you said breaking up was the right thing to do!" I said at him, almost crying now.

"I did. And that's what I thought, until I found out it was because of my best friend."

"We did NOT break up because of Malfoy. I hated him, then. And he hated me. Right?" I added, glancing at Malfoy.

"Right." He said, and Blaise chuckled ruefully.

"Blaise, did you even love me?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has to do with everything. Because THAT'S the reason I broke up with you. I wanted love, and to have someone love me back. And you didn't."

"Don't make this about me."

"Wait a sec-" Malfoy started, but I was faster. And louder.

"I'm NOT making this about you! I understand that this hurts you! But I can't do anything about it, ok? I just can't. I wanted to love you, but I couldn't. I tried, Blaise. That's why I kissed you. But I didn't feel it. And I know you didn't feel anything, either. It's different with Malfoy, alright? I feel better with him."

"Whatever. You ended our sex, just so you could go and sleep with my best friend. That's way different, Tal. You know, I thought you were better. But you're just a sl-"

"HEY!" Malfoy shouted. I was bawling my eyes out at this point, and he couldn't take it anymore. He walked up to Blaise and punched him right in the nose. "Don't you DARE call her that! Don't you dare even accuse her of something like that, ok? You have NO idea what it's like with us. What we have is different than what you guys had. It's what she wanted. And if you ever say that to the girl I love again, you better watch your back." And he walked back to me and pulled me into a hug. He loved me?

"You love her?" Blaise echoed my thought.

"Absolutely." And then Blaise looked at me.

"Do you love him?"

I nodded. "Yes." And then, suddenly, Blaise looked very… embarrassed, and guilty, and much unlike himself.

"God, you guys. I'm sorry. I crossed a line. I don't know what came over me. Talia, I'm so sorry I almost called you that. You're not. I feel like shit now." So I walked over to him and hugged him.

"It's ok, Blaise. I can understand why you got upset. I forgive you."

"Thank you. I know we only ever hooked up when we hung out, but I've come to consider you one of my best friends. I hope we can stay that way."

"Of course we can. I'd love that." He looked up at Malfoy.

"We good, dude?"

"If she's ok, then I'm ok." He said. And then Blaise let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey Tal, you can stop crying now. You know crying girls make me uncomfortable." He said, and I laughed, trying to wipe the tears away.

"God, you guys. Before you guys, I never cried. And now it seems to be a regular thing. I gotta say, I'm not too fond of this." I walked back to Malfoy so he could put his arms around me.

"I'll see you guys later." Blaise said, and walked away.

"That was a close one. I almost ruined a friendship."

"That would've been all on him, babe." I looked up at him, and smiled. "What?" He said.

"You love me?"

"Well, yeah. I suppose."

"Oh, you suppose? What, it only took you having to punch your best friend to realize it?"

"Of course not. I realized it a few weeks ago, on our date."

"Really?"

"Yep. When I finished lighting the candles and turned around, and I saw you there, looking amazing in blue, I realized it."

"Wow."

"Yeah. You should always wear blue." And then, "So, you love me, huh? When did YOU realize it?"

"Last night. Sorry it took me so long."

"I'll forgive you eventually." And we kissed this soft, yet amazing kiss. And it could've gone on for a lot longer, but we were interrupted.

"You love him?" Hermione. Crap. We just couldn't get a break today.

"Hermione, its-"

"What the hell, Talia?"

"Listen-" Draco tried saying.

"Don't you even talk to me, Malfoy." She was pissed.

"Hermione just let us explain! Alright?" I yelled, which finally got her to shut up.

"Fine. Explain." And she sat down. How many times were we going to have to explain this to people? We sat down across from her.

"Ok, first you have to know something. Malfoy and I-"

"Is he First Guy, or Second Guy?" She interrupted.

"Second Guy."

"Alright. Who was First Guy?"

"Blaise Zabini."

"Zabini? Really? What's with you and Slytherins? I thought you hated them just as much as Harry."

"I did. But these two-"

"Did you love him? Blaise?"

"No."

"And he's ok with this?"

"I think he will be."

"And do YOU love her?" She asked Malfoy. He looked confident.

"More than anything."

"And you won't hurt her?"

"Of course not."

"Ok then. I'm cool." I stared at her, then at Malfoy, who was staring at me, and then we both stared back at Hermione, dumbfounded.

"Wh—What?" I said.

"Listen. I'm not happy that you didn't tell me, and I'm not sure I'm okay with it being Malfoy yet. But I trust you, and if you say he's different, I believe you."

"Wow, that was easy."

"But listen to me, Malfoy, if you ever call me a Mudblood again-"

"Talia already warned me about that, you don't need to worry."

"Oh. Well, you need to leave Ronald and his family alone, they don't deserve-"

"Covered that one too, Hermione." I said, smiling.

"Oh. And Harry, too?"

"And Harry, too." Said Malfoy.

"Well, okay, then. I guess I'll talk to you later, Tal." And she got up to walk away, but then turned back to add something. "Oh, and I'm sorry for my brief moment of profanity back there." I smiled. I hardly considered using the word "Hell" once in her lifetime as profanity.

"Wait! Hermione, you can't-" But she was one step ahead, as usual.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But YOU should. At least Ginny, for now."

"You're right. I will. I promise." Eventually.

"Good." And she left.

"Good God, we used to be so good at sneaking around." Malfoy said.

"It's the love thing. It's making us sloppy. We should do something about this."

"Yeah, maybe. But I don't want to."

"Me neither." And we backed into a closet and recommenced our snog fest. We sure did snog a lot.

….

"Talia, wake up!" A voice shouted from somewhere.

"No!"

"Talia, today's the Quidditch match! Ron's FIRST match! You have to get up, or you'll miss breakfast!" Oh yeah. The match.

"Just give me five more minutes."

"You said that half an hour ago! You need to get up NOW!" And they pulled the covers off and doused me with water from both of their wands. I screamed, shot out of bed, and glared at both of them.

"You guys are dead." They laughed and ran out of the room. Cowards.

I got dressed in a cute, Gryffindor pride outfit. I knew Ron was super nervous, and if I was him, I would be too. I couldn't believe Hermione confunded McClaggen like that. Ron still wasn't any better, and he knew it. He may have felt confident right after tryouts, but I think reality was finally catching up with him. Poor guy. Nonetheless, we were his friends, and we would cheer him on the whole time. Of course, secretly, I'd be cheering for Blaise in my head. But I still wanted our team to win, either way.

I made my way into the Great Hall for breakfast, where everyone was either sporting green and silver, or red and gold. Of course, red and gold took the majority. Suck it, Slytherins. On my way to our table, I glanced over at Blaise and mouthed 'good luck' to him, and he gave me a smile. When my eyes met Draco's, I melted. The way he was looking at me was so… intimate. But then he got up to leave. I wondered where he was going. Oh well, maybe I'd see him at the match.

When I got to my table, Hermione and Ginny looked at me nervously. Good. Ginny was sitting by Dean, and Hermione was sitting with Harry. We started eating, and just when I started to wonder where Ron was, I heard the huge doors open, and saw Ron shuffling in, practically shaking with fear. People kept on wishing him luck, but that seemed to just make things worse for him.

"Good luck, Ron." Said Neville.

"We're counting on you, Ron! I've got a couple galleons on Gryffindor." Said Seamus Finnigan. Damn it, Seamus, that wasn't helping anything. Ron sat down next to me, across from Harry and Hermione. Hermione kept glancing Ron's way, while Harry couldn't help glaring at Dean, over there with Ginny. Man, my friends couldn't do anything by themselves, could they? Ron was staring down at his plate.

"So, how was it?" He said to Harry and Hermione. How was what?

"How was what?" Hermione asked. I thought she could be psychic, she shouldn't have dropped Trelawney's class so fast third year.

"Your dinner party last night." He said, a little resentfully.

"Dinner party? What dinner party?" I asked.

"Slughorn's dinner party last night that only the 'best and brightest' were invited to."

"Hey, I didn't know about that!"

"Well, how could you? You've been off with M—whoever you've been off with" Nice save, Hermione.

"Well, what else have I missed?"

"Well, you know how Katie Bell is in the hospital wing now?"

"Yeah?"

"Harry openly accused Malfoy of being responsible."

"What! Harry, you can't be serious."

"Hey, I thought you were on MY side for this particular subject!" He said.

"Well, now that I think about it, I do think it's a little ridiculous."

"Oh, just perfect. Just wait, I'm right. You'll see."

"Whatever, you guys. How was the dinner party last night?" Ron asked again.

"To be honest, dead boring, really. Though I think Harry enjoyed dessert." Hermione said, glancing Harry's way. "Anyway, Slughorn reminded us of the Christmas party he's having next month, and that we're allowed to bring someone. Ginny's bringing Talia, here."

"I bet you're going with McLaggen. He's in the Slug Club too, right?" He said rudely. Oh, Ron. Hermione was quite annoyed.

"Actually, just so you know, I was going to invite YOU, Ron. So we could all hang out together."

"Really?" Idiot.

"Really. But since you seem to have such distaste for the idea-"

"Good luck today, Ron! I bet you'll be brilliant." Said Lavender Brown, passing by. Ron smiled weakly at her, and when she was gone, his face was almost a sickly green color.

"That's it, I'm out. After today's match, McLaggen can have my spot."

"Have it your way. Would you like some juice?" What was that I saw in his hand?

"Hello, everyone. Ron, you don't look so good." Luna came and sat with us, wearing her huge lion's head. She was so cute. She turned to Harry and said, "Is that why you put something in his juice?" And sure enough, when Harry reached into his bag, the little vial of Felix Felicis glinted in the light.

"Liquid Luck." I said.

"Ron, don't drink that!" Hermione said sternly. But he didn't care, and he downed that cup of juice as if it was the last cup of juice he'd ever drink.

"Harry, if anyone found out about this, you could be expelled." I said to him.

"I don't have any idea what you guys are on about. Ron?" He said, getting up. Ron looked amazing, confident, and ready to play.

"Let's go, Harry. We've got a match to win."

….

It was such an intense match. Pretty bloody, too. Thankfully none of my friends sustained any major injuries. I've never really been good at knowing all the rules and stuff, but I knew enough to be able to enjoy watching. Blaise was wonderful, flying very fast and all. When I looked over to the Slytherin section, I wondered why Malfoy wasn't there. He used to love Quidditch; he was even on the team for a few years. Ronald was doing amazingly as well, and before I knew it, we had won the game. Thank God, it seemed like it went on all day.

And the after party in the common room went on even longer. People were ecstatic. And Ron was completely the center of attention. Even McLaggen was celebrating. Ginny was messing around with Dean and Seamus, and I looked over and saw Hermione walk up to Harry. So I went over to them.

"Ron seems to be enjoying himself, don't you think?" I said to them.

"Yep. Must be his lucky day." Harry said, smiling at both of us.

"You shouldn't have done that, Harry. It's wrong." Hermione said, still bothered.

"I suppose you're right. Maybe I could've just… I don't know, confunded him?"

"Ouch. He's got you there, Hermione." I said.

"That was completely different! That was just tryouts. This was an actual game!" She protested. But then Harry showed us the little vial of Liquid Luck, completely sealed, and still full.

"You didn't put it in?" I asked him, and he shook his head.

"Ron only thought you did." Hermione said, and Harry nodded. "Brilliant." We looked back at the crowd, enjoying games and butterbeer, when Lavender Brown stepped up to Ron and practically jumped him. But he wasn't complaining. When I looked back to Harry and Hermione, she was already rushing out and Harry was already following her. Shit, Ron, now you'd done it. I went to follow them out, and found them at the bottom of a small staircase just a minute away. As I approached them, Harry caught my eye and held up his hand. I nodded, understanding what he meant, and made my way back up the stairs. This wasn't about me. Harry was better for this than me. As I walked up, I glanced out a window that just happened to face the Astronomy Tower, and saw a figure with white hair standing there, looking out at the grounds. Malfoy. I went to him.

"Hey, there." I said, and he looked at me and smiled weakly, and then looked back.

"We haven't been up here in a while. Re-living the good old days?" I said as a joke, but he didn't laugh. I went up to him and put my arms around his waist from behind, and rested my head on his back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, really. I just needed to be by myself for a while." He said, so I let go.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can leave, if you want…" But he turned around and grabbed me.

"Don't you dare. Like I said before, being alone is better when you're here. I just didn't want to pull you away from the victory party." He said, and we sat down on the floor, and just rested. He was leaning against the wall, and I was leaning against him, with my back to his front, and his arms were around me. It was nice, but I still felt like something was wrong.

"Draco, are you sure you're alright? I feel like you need to talk about something."

"I'm fine, I promise."

"Well, if you're sure."

"I am."

And we stayed silent for a while. It was nice and quiet. Well, until he started talking.

"Did you notice you called me Draco?"

"What? I did?"

"Just a few minutes ago, yeah. You called me Draco."

"Don't get used to it, buddy." But it was already too late, and he knew that. I had already started to call him Draco in my head. He laughed.

"Alright, if you say so." And we talked for a bit, and joked, and laughed. And before I knew it we were asleep, on the floor. It was the best night's sleep I'd ever had.

….

"Hermione, I need to talk to you." It was the next day, Sunday, after breakfast. We were planning a trip to see Sirius today, so we were getting ready. Once Ginny was out of the room, taking a shower, I took my chance.

"About what?"

"It's about Draco."

"Oh, what did he do to you?"

"No, he didn't do anything. Well, not anything bad, anyway."

"Ok then, what's up with Malfoy?"

"Well, we were sleeping together last night-"

"Ok, stop right there. I REALLY don't need to hear about your sex life with Draco Malfoy."

"No, it's not like that. We were just talking, and then we fell asleep. No sex."

"Oh. Well then, carry on."

"It made me realize something amazing."

"What?"

"I haven't had that nightmare in a couple months. Ever since I started talking to him. Even when it was us running into each other and saying how much we hated each other. I haven't had the nightmare."

"Really? Tal, that's wonderful!"

"I know!"

"Are you going to tell him about your… abilities?"

"I… don't know. I mean, I want to, but I'm still uncomfortable telling it to people. We KNOW that Voldemort is rallying up people and creatures he can use on his side. And if he found me, and found out how to control me, well, that would be a new nightmare."

"So, you're saying that you DO think Malfoy is a Death Eater?"

"No, of course not. But he definitely has connections to The Dark Lord, like his father. I just don't want it to somehow reach his ears."

"Ah, I see. So… when are you gonna tell Ginny?"

"I'm working on it! I'm waiting for the right time, what with her and Dean going through this pretty rough patch. It would just give her one more thing to stress about."

"Well, better make it soon. The longer you wait, I bet the worse everyone will take it."

"I know, I know."

"Let's go get Ginny, We're running late."

"Alright."


	11. Chapter 11

**The FORMER Prisoner of Azkaban**

We walked down the hallways, goofing off, care-free. Being friends with Harry, care-free moments didn't come to often here at Hogwarts. So we cherished them when we got them. Harry was in a great mood for once this year, finally getting to see his godfather. I was excited to see him, too. We all were. I was just jumping on Harry's back, trying to catch him off guard, when I saw a flash of white-blonde hair down a corridor. Draco. I decided to go talk to him for a second.

"Hey guys, I'll meet you there. I forgot I needed to talk to McGonagall about something." It just so happened that this was the corridor her office was in. Lucky me.

"Do you want us to order you anything when we get there?" Ginny asked.

"Something spiked with alcohol." And I dashed off to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. Where had he gone to so fast? But then, someone grabbed me and pulled me into a broom closet. What was with guys and pulling me into things randomly? It was pitch black in that closet, so when a pair of lips crashed into mine, I just had to assume that it was Draco. No, scratch that. I KNEW it was Draco. I'd know his wonderful lips anywhere.

"This is unexpected." I said to him, smiling.

"How's this for sneaking around?" He said, in a very seductive voice.

"Very nice. You're an expert sneaker." He started kissing me again, and it was very easy to lose myself in it. I almost forgot that I was meeting Sirius in a few minutes.

"Draco, I can't stay long enough for… _This_." I said suggestively, while he kissed my neck. I moaned, because it felt so good.

"It sure sounds like you can." He said to me. Well, it was more of a growl, really. God, he was so sexy.

"No, seriously. We're meeting Sirius in Hogsmead. I have to go." I said, and pried him off me. Every time I got him off me, he'd come back and start tickling me. It was fun. Finally, I pushed him off, opened the door, and stepped out. He wouldn't dare attack me out here, in the open. Well, that's what I thought, anyway. He waited until I turned around, and then grabbed me from behind and dragged me back in, tickling me the whole way.

"Malfoy, you little shit! Let me go!" I yelled, laughing.

"Shh, you don't want anyone to hear us, do you?" He said, also laughing. I liked his laugh. I kissed him for a little bit more, but then I pulled away again.

"Draco, I really need to go. Please." He looked at me sweetly.

"Well, as long as you said please." And he let me go. I turned, but then I turned back again to kiss him one last time.

"I'll meet you later, okay? I promise." I whispered in his ear.

"I'll hold you to that." He whispered back, and I left him. But it was really hard.

I ran the rest of the way. Well, most of the way. I'm not much of a runner. But as I got closer to Sirius, I got faster. I practically broke down the door to the Three Broomsticks when I got there. I took off my jacket, and ran over to our table.

"SIRIUS!" I yelled, and ran over and hugged him. And in his ear, I whispered, "The guys don't know I've seen you yet, okay? I didn't want them to find out about the date."

"You got it." He said. We returned to the table, and I sipped my drink.

"Hey, what gives? Where's the alcohol I asked for?" I said.

"Sorry, Tal. Not all of us carry it with us at all times." Ron said, but Sirius gave a chuckle.

"I do." And he handed me a flask under the table. "Now, don't go mistaking me for an alcoholic, alright? I keep it on me for spontaneous special occasions, such as this."

"Not a bad idea, Uncle Sirius." I said, and everyone laughed at me.

"You SO would, Tal." Ginny said.

"I know, right?" I said. We talked for a little while, caught up with Sirius and stuff. It was so awesome. I loved hearing him talk about the good old days, when all our parents hung out at Hogwarts. Well, except for Molly and Arthur. They sort of came into the picture after Hogwarts, seeing as how they weren't there at the same time. After about half an hour, Harry and Ron got up to refresh our drinks, and Ginny went to the bathroom. Hermione took her chance.

"FINALLY we've got a minute alone. I've been dying to ask you this whole time. Was Malfoy the reason you were late?" I smiled.

"Yeah. The little shit trapped me in a broom closet."

"Wait, Hermione knows about Malfoy? Does anyone else? Because I've been really careful, not bringing it up."

"No, it's just Hermione. For now. I really don't know how I'm going to tell everyone else." I said, a little apprehensively.

"Come on now. You know you're friends love you, no matter what. How bad could it be?" Sirius said.

"You have no idea. The other night, I had a dream about it. We were at lunch, when all of a sudden Malfoy stood up on the table and declared his love for me."

"Oh, that's romantic." Said Hermione.

"Yeah, it was. But then everyone just sat there, staring at me, and then their eyes started turning red, and they stood up and started yelling at me, and then Ron turned into that thing that Veela turn into when they get angry, and Harry started trying to hit me with his broomstick, and Lavender Brown was an actual plant trying to choke me."

"That's not so romantic." Sirius said, apparently finding this amusing.

"And then they all went silent, still staring at me, and then I looked down and was naked. And McLaggen winked at me." Hermione waited.

"And?" She said.

"And then I woke up."

"Weird!" She said.

"I know!"

"So, a broom closet, huh? Was it as amazing as usual?" She asked.

"Yeah, 'cause broom closets always get me going. There's just something about the brooms and the buckets and the possibility of seeing Filch's face at any moment…" I said, which made Sirius laugh so hard he almost stopped breathing.

"Seriously, Tal, how was it?" She asked again.

"We didn't have sex this time."

"Really?" Said Sirius.

"Really really. I mean, we could have. We were both definitely in the mood, if you know what I mean. But I wanted to be here more. We'll be meeting up later, though. But not for sex, because we're taking things slow. But there will definitely be some snogging involved." Me and Sirius high-fived.

"Alright, Talia! Way to get some!"

"Get some what?" Ron said, as he and Harry had walked up at that moment. Man, Ron wasn't the brightest crayon in the box sometimes.

"Get some good grades, Ron. Good grades."

"Oh. Alright." And they sat down. Harry handed Hermione her new drink.

"There you go Hermione, Butterbeer with a dash of ginger."

"Thank you, Harry." She said, and I leaned over to Harry.

"Yeah, because we all know how much she likes her ginger." And he had to hide his laugh under a cough. Hermione glared at us.

"Well guys, I'm afraid time is up. I really must be going." Sirius said, and we all started complaining, so he held up a hand. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I have stuff to do. But it's been really great seeing all you guys. We'll do it again—" And we all crushed him in one big group hug. Harry walked him out, no doubt running one of his many conspiracy theories by him. Wonderful.

"So, I know I haven't been around very much lately, so you'll have to catch me up on a few things. Is Harry still on about Malfoy?" Ron groaned.

"You have no idea. The guy's a bloody lunatic. I mean, we all know how Malfoy is, right? But this whole Death Eater thing is just insane."

"Is he still accusing him of cursing Katie Bell?"

"What do you think?" I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything. Harry had just come back, looking upset.

"What's up, Harry?" I said.

"Sirius doesn't believe me about Malfoy, either! I mean, is it so much to ask that my friends have my back once in a while?" Okay, I knew he was upset about this, but that was going a little far.

"Hold on a second, Harry. You know we ALWAYS have your back! Remember in second year, when everyone thought you were the Heir of Slytherin? WE believed you. Or in fourth year, when everyone thought you put your name in the Goblet of Fire? I BELIEVED YOU, HARRY! Even when Ronald didn't! Sorry, Ron. No offense." I said to Ron. He shrugged and waved it off. "And don't even get me started on last year, Harry. Remember how I was sitting right next to you in that awful detention with the fugly pink toad? OH! And how about when Seamus was being an asshole to you! Remember how I punched him and got an extra detention on top of that?"

"Nice punch, by the way." Seamus said, passing by our table.

"Thanks." I said proudly, and then looked back at Harry.

"We are your best friends. We always have your back. No matter what, we love you." I said, and my face was feeling very hot by that point. I watched Harry's face go from angry, to surprised that I yelled at him, to guilty.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I love you too. I'm just getting really stressed with everything, you know? I hate being this 'Chosen One'. I don't even think I can do this. And all these memories Dumbledore has been showing me, are supposed to mean something to me, but they just don't." When he finished, I felt a little bad about yelling at him like that. I grabbed his hand, and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed a little bit.

"Listen to me, Harry. You CAN do this. Do you realize that you're the ONLY one who doesn't think so? And no matter what, no matter where I am or who I'm with, I will always be on your side. We all will. The entire way, we'll be with you." I glanced at Hermione, and she looked at me like she was very proud at what I had just said. And then I decided to change the subject. "Hey, did I ever tell you guy about how Sirius slept with my mother?"

"What?!" They all yelled at once, in the exact same pitch.

"Totally. After we met him and found out he was innocent, he always talked about my mum in this way that implied they were more than friends, you know? So I asked him one day. I was like, "Sirius, how come you always talk about my mom like she's a goddess?" and he got all awkward and walked away."

"That is so weird! Don't you feel different around him, now?" Ginny asked me. I shrugged.

"Not really. I mean, it was obviously back when they were at school, before her and my dad got together. Plus, come on. Sirius Black is pretty good looking these days. Can you imagine what he was like back then? I almost want to congratulate her." And everyone started laughing. "Also, I think she may have had a thing with Lupin, also."

"Are you kidding me?" Ron said.

"Absolutely not! I would never kid about something as serious as sex." I joked. "Yeah, he talks about my mum the same way Sirius does. She totally rocked their worlds."

"Talia, your mum sounds just like you." Ginny said. I mocked hurt.

"What's that supposed to mean?" They all laughed.

"No, I mean she sounded awesome." I smiled.

"Yeah, she was. Both my parents were." Remembering them made me want to cry. I looked up at Harry, and I knew he understood. But then he said something amazing.

"Talia, do you think your parents are really dead?" My answer was immediate.

"No. The bodies weren't there with my sister's. That means they could still be out there." I expected him to write me off like everyone else.

"I believe you."

"Thank you." I whispered, my voice failing me for a few seconds. I got up quickly.

"Well guys, I'm afraid I have somewhere else to be."

"What, you mean we're not your only friends?" Ron said.

"Ha ha Ronald, very funny. And how do you know I'm meeting a friend?" I left to the sounds of my friends whistling and cat-calling.

….

"I have to say, I think this may be the first time I've stripped down to my underwear and NOT followed it up with sex." I said, in the Room of Requirement later.

"Me too." Draco said back. He was still in his jeans, but his shirt had come off.

"I liked the snogging, though."

"Oh, most definitely." We laid there for a while, just relaxing and enjoying each other's presence.

"So, I was thinking—"

"I thought I smelled something burning…" He laughed.

"There you go with the hilarious joke making again."

"Well, I can't help it. It just comes naturally. Now finish what you were saying, Mr. Thinker."

"I was just thinking about how I don't know that much about you."

"Sure you do!"

"Yeah, I know some stuff. Like what you like, or don't like, I know how you are, your personality and stuff, and I know you don't like to open up to people. I know a little bit about your past, like growing up with the Weasley's, and how close you are with Fred, and about your little sister. But I don't really know any secrets, you know? Something you don't tell most people."

That caught me off guard. I mean, what do I tell him? I didn't know if I was ready to get into the BIG secret with him just yet, and I really didn't want to talk about my parents anymore. What else was there?

"Well, that's a tough one. Ooh! I got it! I'm afraid of werewolves." He stayed quiet, as if waiting for more.

"That's it? Werewolves?"

"Yeah. I had this reoccurring nightmare as a child about werewolves, and the fear just stuck with me all these years." It wasn't a lie. I really was afraid of werewolves because of that nightmare.

"You do realize that Professor Lupin from Third Year was a werewolf, right?"

"Yeah, but he's different. He was friends with my parents, so I grew up hearing about him and stuff."

"Hmm."

"What? My secret wasn't good enough?"

"Oh sure it is! For now." I smiled at him.

"Whatever you say, Malfoy."


	12. Chapter 12

**The Christmas Party**

So, me and Draco had been dating for a month and a couple weeks. I didn't remember the exact day, so what? It was December, and the party, and Christmas break, were coming up fast. I was so excited for the party. Blaise would be there, but Draco wouldn't. I wish he could see me in that dress. Oh, right, he already did. I forgot. Just the day before the party, me and Harry and Hermione were in the library so Hermione could return some books. Since the victory party, Hermione and Harry had both come clean about their feelings for Ron and Ginny. Finally. It was driving me crazy. Of course, Hermione was still choosing to be stubborn about it.

"Honestly, you guys. Ronald is at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he wants to. I really couldn't care less. I WAS under the impression we would be attending the Christmas party together, yes. But, given the circumstances, I've made other arrangements."

"You have?" I asked her. This was the first I had heard about it.

"Yes, I have. Why?" She asked, and I looked at Harry.

"Well, I thought, seeing as how neither of us can go with whom we'd like, that WE could go together. You know, as friends. Like Talia and Ginny." He said. She looked embarrassed.

"Oh. I wish I would've thought about that." She turned around quickly and started putting away more books.

"So, who are you taking?" I asked her.

"Um, well, it's a… surprise, yeah, it's a surprise. Besides, it's Harry we need to worry about."

"What? Why me?" He said.

"Well, you can't just take anyone, can you?" I said to him.

"Why not?" He asked.

"See that girl over there? The one with the wild, black hair?" He nodded. "That's Romilda Vane." He looked at me as if asking why he should care. Boys.

"I heard she's trying to smuggle you a love potion."

"Really?" And he looked over to her with curiosity. Hermione snapped in his face to get his attention.

"Hey! You DO realize she's only interested in you because everyone thinks you're the Chosen One?"

"But I AM the chosen one." This time she slapped his head with a rolled up Daily Prophet, which made me laugh. "Alright, sorry. Uh, just kidding." He rubbed his head. "I'll just ask someone I like. You know, someone cool."

…

"Hermione, you look amazing." I said, and Ginny nodded. She really did look wonderful. And Ginny did, too.

"We all look amazing. Especially you, Talia." Ginny said.

"What, this old thing?" I said, making them laugh. "Actually, to be honest, you both look way better. I may look hot, but you guys look beautiful and classy and amazing."

"You don't give yourself enough credit. You're beautiful, too, Talia." Said Hermione. I waved her compliment away.

"Eh, whatever. We should go, we might be late. Hermione, where are you meeting your date?"

"Um, in the common room. But you guys go ahead; I've still got a few things to do"

"Um, okay then." Ginny said, and we locked arms and made our way through the halls and down to the dungeons for the party. When we got there, it was amazing. The decorations were beautiful, and it smelled amazing. I spotted a guy holding some appetizers, and grabbed some. I tried one at first, but it was so amazing, I stuffed a few more in my mouth.

"Sometimes I think that's why guys like you so much. Because you eat just like one." Ginny said to me.

"Guys like you too, Ginny." I said to her, once I finished my mouth full.

"Not the one that matters…" She said under her breath. If only she knew. I quickly changed the subject.

"So, I guess I should've let you come with your boyfriend. I'd feel guilty, but I'm having too much fun." She chuckled.

"Well, you probably would've ended up coming either way. At least you got to buy your dress in advance, this way."

"What do you mean?"

"Dean and I broke up the other day."

"What! Why?" I shouted, totally surprised. I hugged her.

"It wasn't actually that bad. We just started talking, and realized that it wasn't… special anymore. Besides, I have feelings for Harry Potter now, so…" She trailed off.

"And you and Dean are still ok?"

"Yeah, I mean I think he's a little upset about it, which is understandable, but he's taking it pretty well, I think. And, aren't you gonna say anything about Harry?"

"Honey, we're best friends. We share a bedroom, at home AND Hogwarts, which practically makes us sisters. This means I know you well enough to know that you've ALWAYS loved Harry."

"Oh God. I'm so pathetic. I can't even make a move."

"Of course you can! Why couldn't you?"

"I don't even know how he feels." Oh brother. Everyone else does.

"Ginny. It's not that hard. Just kiss him. You never know how he'll feel about it until then." I do, though.

"Really?"

"Really. Just maybe give it some time, though. For Dean."

"Right. For Dean." She glanced away, but then did a double take, and her eyes widened like she had just seen Lord Voldemort himself show up to the party.

"What! Did someone spill? Show up in an ugly dress? Throw up on someone!?" I said as I searched for what she was looking at. When I looked at her, she shook her head and pointed to the door. And what I saw shocked me. I… think… I don't think the image will ever fade.

Hermione. McLaggen. Together, arm in arm. I shuddered.

"You've got to be kidding me." I said, once I was able to talk again.

"No wonder she wanted to keep it a secret." Ginny said. Hermione glanced our way, and we must have looked exactly like what we were feeling, because she immediately dropped eye contact and looked red in the face. "Oh, she will DEFINITELY hear some choice words about this later. Oh God, is he pulling her toward the mistletoe?"

"Poor Hermione. She may be scarred for life." So we decided to watch it like a movie. Ew, McLaggen looked like he was trying to suck off her face. When he finally came up for air, he turned to refresh his drink, and Hermione took her chance to ditch him. Boy, I'd never seen her move so fast.

"Go, Hermione, go!" I said quietly, so only Ginny could hear me. She laughed. Hermione hid behind these kind of sheer, mildly see through drapes. I looked back at McLaggen, who was now searching for his lost Hermione. Poor dude. He looked at me, so I pointed the opposite direction, towards where Slughorn was standing. That ought to keep him occupied for a while.

"Oh, look, now Harry's found her." Ginny said, so I turned back to that part of the movie. Harry was talking to Hermione, when a guy holding a food tray spotted them and offered them some food. Hermione stuffed a bunch in her mouth.

"That's the Dragon Tartar." Ginny said. "Charlie says they taste like dragon balls, though I really don't want to know how he knows that."

"Way to go, Hermione!" And then Cormac spotted them, so she ducked out the other side just as he came in. He and Harry started talking, and I noticed that Snape was walking towards them as well.

"Dude, this just keeps getting better and better. Now Snape's coming over."

"This is awesome." Just as Snape entered the little hiding place, McLaggen threw up all over his shoes, which made us burst out laughing. Snape sent him away, and then turned around to talk to Harry, who had tried to make a sneaky getaway.

"I wish they would just let Harry get back to poor Luna. She's probably wondering if he ditched her." Ginny said.

"Actually, I don't think she's noticed." I said, gesturing to where Luna was, observing a plant. We were about to turn back to Harry and Snape, when we heard a voice shout from the front of the room.

"Take your hands off me, squib!" Shit. I'd know that voice anywhere. We turned to see Draco in the hands of Filch. Snape and Slughorn walked over to them, to check out the commotion.

"Professors! I just found this one lurking in an upstairs corridor. He says he was invited to your party."

"Okay, alright, I was gate crashing! Happy?" Malfoy said, clearly angry that he got caught. But when his eyes found me, and he took in my outfit, all the anger faded away. It was as if we were the only to people on the planet, and I knew he was wishing it could stay that way. I was too.

"I'll escort him out, immediately." Said Snape. I could tell Draco was about to protest, but I shook my head very slightly, so only he saw it. He nodded, and looked to Snape.

"Certainly, _Professor._" He said with his signature snarky attitude. They left, and I saw Harry follow them. Crap. I had to get out of here.

"You guys, I have to pee. I'll catch up with you later." And I quickly followed Harry. "Harry, wait up!"

"What?"

"Well, if you're gonna spy on Malfoy, I am too!"

"Fine, just stay quiet." And we heard them talking down the hall.

"Maybe I did curse the Bell girl, maybe I didn't. What's it to you?" Malfoy said.

"I swore to protect you, Malfoy. I made the Unbreakable Vow with your mother-" Started Snape, but Malfoy quickly interrupted.

"I don't need your help! I was chosen for this! Me, above all others! And I WON'T fail him!"

"You're afraid, and you know it. You try to conceal it, but it's obvious. Just let me assist you."

"No! This is my moment." And by the footsteps, I figured he was leaving. Harry turned to me.

"I told you. I was right." And he left me. Great.

What was going on? This was too much for me. Was Malfoy a Death Eater? I had had such faith in him, but now I was starting to wonder. How could he keep this from me? Well, I suppose the same reason I didn't tell him MY secret. But this was huge, way huger than mine. Well, maybe. Was it? This was giving me a headache. I couldn't think straight. I needed to find Draco. I needed to talk to him, to clear this all up. Maybe it was something else entirely.

…

I finally found him, maybe an hour later, in the Room of Requirement. He was standing in front of a huge cabinet, just like the one we had seen during the summer at Borgin and Burkes.

"Finally. I've been looking for you for ages. My feet are killing me. Honestly, I don't know why I didn't check here first." I slipped off my shoes, waiting for him to try and act casual. But he didn't. "Draco, please. You need to say something."

"You shouldn't be here." Was all he said.

"Are you kidding me? You're sending me away? I'm not going anywhere." I said, crossing my arms.

"Seriously, Tal. You shouldn't be around me right now. I'm not good-"

"Oh, save the whole 'I'm no good for you so I'm going to dump you to keep you safe' speech. I don't give a shit." He turned to face me. His eyes looked puffy. "Look, I'm not going anywhere. And you need to know that I'll love you no matter what. But this is something I NEED to know. And you can't lie to me, or say nothing's wrong, or change the subject, because it won't work anymore. What's going on with you?"

"Listen, Talia, its complicated-"

"No, it's not, really. Just answer the question."

"Talia, I can't just answer a question like that."

"Well, do you need me to make it simpler?"

"How can you do that?"

"By making it a yes or no question."

"Don't do this, Talia."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"Talia-"

"Just answer. Yes or no."

"Talia, please-"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION, DRACO!" I shouted. I calmed myself, and then asked again. "Are you a Death Eater?" He took a few seconds, but he did eventually answer me.

"Yes." It was a whisper.

"Oh God." I whispered, and sat down on the floor against… well, something. I didn't feel like seeing what it was. I felt like my insides were vibrating, kind of. I think the muggles called it… shock? Draco waited a few minutes for me to stop shaking, and then he sat next to me and held me. He felt so warm. How could a Death Eater be so… good? After a few minutes, he spoke.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm just peachy. I just found out my boyfriend is evil, and working for the most evil man on the planet, who wants me and all my friends dead."

"Okay, then. Are WE okay?" I looked up at him, and saw that he was genuinely worried. I sighed and snuggled closer.

"Of course. Like I said before, I'm not going anywhere. I still love you. This is just a lot to process, that's all."

"I understand. And listen, I'm not evil. I didn't want this. I pretend I do, for my mum. And really, I don't think SHE even wants this. It's for my father, really. She's too loyal to him."

"I can understand where she's coming from. I mean, look at the situation I'M in now." I said, and we both giggled a little bit. But I didn't get too carried away, because there was still more I needed to know. "Listen. Me and Harry overheard your conversation with Snape, just after you left the party."

"Shit. How much did he hear?"

"Just about some plan, and what you were chosen for, and how you won't fail him. I followed him so I could make up some cover story for you, but after I heard it, I couldn't really think clearly. But I think this may have made Harry's suspicions even worse."

"Well, thanks for trying." Silence.

"Draco, WHAT were you chosen for?" He was quiet for a minute, and then let out a sigh.

"Listen, I know the last thing you need is for me to lie to you about this. So I won't. But I can't tell you everything, Tal, this is too important. It really could threaten your safety. And I can't have that. You're the only thing that's good in my life, anymore."

I waited a second, and then decided not to pursue this. "Alright, I trust you."

"Thank you." More silence. "Hey, Talia?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you… do you really think Harry could do it? Defeat Voldemort?"

"Yes. I do. I have complete confidence in him, we all do. Even if he doesn't."

"Huh."

"Why?"

"Because… I sort of… want him to." For this, I sat up in front of him and faced him.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. If there wasn't a Dark Lord, my family could be free. Normal."

"Huh." We sat like that for a while. Then, when I looked at him, he was smiling suggestively at me.

"What? Like something you see?" I said, gesturing to my body.

"I like everything I see." He said, reaching out to stroke my arms.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, especially that dress. You make it look amazing."

"Wow, that's different." I started crawling towards him, and soon my knees were on either side of him.

"And I gotta say, I'm totally digging that bow tie hair clip."

"Of course you are. Bow ties are cool." His hands were making their way up my thighs.

"Hey, now. What happened to the slow route?"

"Don't you think we've been slow enough?" Now his hands were on my waist. "Hey, you know what would make that outfit even better?"

"What's that?"

"The floor."

"Well, I believe that can be arranged."

…

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, you mentioned that a few times." I repeated his words from before, laughing. I turned over to look at him, while he was still trying to catch his breath. God, he was so beautiful. I mean, he was obviously drop dead gorgeous, but there was just something in his hair, and greyish-blue eyes, and the contour of his face, that made him so much more than that. Once he was finally able to talk, he rolled over to face me, as well.

"How can you be so good at that? I mean, that first time was amazing, but I thought it was just the fact that it was the first time. But even Blaise says your first time was epic, and every time since then. It's like you're some sort of… sex prodigy." I laughed again.

"Well, that's close, but not exactly the reason."

"You mean there's an actual reason? Do tell."

"I don't know… I've never told anyone, outside my family…"

"Oh, come on. You know you can tell me." He was right. He just told me this huge, horrible secret. The least I could do was tell him mine.

"Alright. The thing is, I'm… a Siren." There was a few seconds where it looked like he didn't quite hear me, and then his eyes slowly started getting wider.

"No way."

"Way."

"But Sirens are… REALLY rare."

"True. But it runs in my family. Well, actually, it skips generations. So my grandma was a Siren, it skipped my mom, and went to me."

"How… What… No way."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"So, explain to me what that actually means." He said.

"What do you mean?"

"What does a Siren do? What kind of abilities so you have?"

"Oh. Well, you see, Sirens are… well, we… Hmm. Okay, I got it. Sirens absorb energy from others. So, when I sing, it lures people to me so I can do my thing and take their energy. If I wanted, I could take their life. Sirens are always very beautiful, very alluring, just like veela. Actually, in some ways, us and the veela are sort of… related. Not like family, but more like different branches of the same species. Like tigers and lions are both cats."

"That's amazing."

"And this also makes me really good at sex. It's sort of like instinct, or something. And, since you and I have already had sex, my abilities wouldn't work on you. You'd still feel the pull if I sang, but you'd be able to resist it quite easily."

"So, Blaise would be able to resist also."

"Correct. There are three types of people who could resist. People I've already had sex with, my family, or people I consider my family, and other Sirens. Also, I'm kind of psychic. Just a little. I only get senses, or feelings. It's usually in the form of a splitting headache."

"Wicked."

I laughed. "I'm glad you think so. Personally, I'd rather just be a normal witch."

"Are you kidding? This is brilliant! I've had sex with a Siren!"

"Draco, do you know what this means?"

"Um, no?"

"Draco, you know the Dark Lord is collecting people he could use to his advantage. That means that if he finds me, if he knows how to control me..."

"He could use you to kill everyone. Crap."

"That's why he can never know about me. Draco, you can't tell ANYONE."

"I promise, I won't. Trust me."

"I do. Always."

"Good." He kissed my head. "Now, let's get some sleep. The train leaves tomorrow."

"Alright."


	13. Chapter 13

**The Christmas Disaster**

I had managed to wake up before everyone else, so when I snuck back into the dorm, no one was there to catch me. I started packing, and was finished in time to watch everyone scramble to get ready. It was fun. When we got on the train, I sat with Ron and Harry so we could discuss what Harry and I overheard. And I couldn't find Hermione, but I had a feeling she was doing everything in her power to avoid Ron.

"The Unbreakable Vow. You're sure that's what Snape said?" Ron said after we told him about the night before.

"Yeah. Why?" Harry said to him.

"Well, it's just, you can't break an Unbreakable Vow." I looked over at Harry.

"The Force is strong with this one." I said sarcastically, gesturing to Ron.

"Yeah, I think we've figured that out ourselves, funnily enough." Harry said.

"No, you don't understand—oh, bloody hell." Lavender had stopped by our door and started writing one of those breath messages on it. It said 'R + L' and was inside a cutsie little heart with an arrow going through it.

"I miss you!" She whispered, and then left.

"Lovely." I said.

"All she wants to do is snog! My lips are getting chapped, see?" And he started to lean toward us.

"We'll take your word for it." And then Hermione walked by, stopped when she saw Lavender's little note, and then sped away.

"So, what happens when you break an Unbreakable Vow?" Harry asked Ron. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer, but Ron told us anyway.

"You die."

I left the compartment, hoping to find Hermione to make sure she was okay. Once again, I found myself pulled into an empty compartment by a random arm. But this time, it wasn't Blaise. It was Draco. I smiled, and hugged him. I didn't know how I was going to get through  
this holiday without him.

"You know, last time this happened, I was pretty pleased with the results."

"What, you didn't get enough last night?" He said, mockingly.

"Of course I did. But a little more is always appreciated. What's up?"

"Well, I was going to wait to give you this until we got back, but I just couldn't wait. Plus, we aren't going to see each other for a couple weeks, so I wanted to say good bye."

"Give me what?" And he showed me a tiny, velvety little box. It was too big to be a ring box (Thank God) but it was obviously some other form of jewelry. And sure enough, when I opened it, I found a necklace. The necklace had a silver chain, and that the bottom was a little cluster of diamonds with a big sapphire attached to them. "Holy crap, Draco, this is beautiful. This must've cost a fortune." I said as I put it on. He helped me with the clasp as I held my hair.

"In my family, money doesn't really mean much anymore. My parents have all this money that they don't even use anymore, because they're too busy trying to please their masters. So I might as well use it on you, right?"

"Well, I sure as hell won't complain."

"I figured, if you wear this all the time, that way you'll always be wearing blue. And you should ALWAYS wear blue." He said. I kissed him, and then we left each other.

I looked for Hermione everywhere, and only found her when I reached the end of the train. She and Ginny were sitting in a compartment, by themselves, and Hermione looked like an emotional wreck.

"Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry." I said as I came in.

"It's not your fault. You didn't do anything." She was trying to hold in her sobs now, but it wasn't working. I pulled her head onto my lap and started playing with her hair. "That feels good." I chuckled.

"My mum used to do this to me when I was sad, or had a bad dream. It's very soothing." I said. "Are you sure you won't come over for a few days? You know how amazing Molly's big dinners are."

"Thanks. But I'd rather not, you understand. I just can't be around him anymore. Besides, I want to see my parents. But maybe… you could send me some leftovers?" I laughed.

"You got it." And then we talked, bashed Ron a little bit. Okay, we bashed Ron a lot. Even Ginny. Actually, she was the best at it. After using a rather profane word for him, we both looked at her with amazement.

"Bloody hell, Ginny, he's your brother." I said to her.

"Yeah, well, he's an idiot. And I still love him, but he's hurt one of my best friends. Brother or not, that's not okay with me." And then we all laughed.

When the train stopped, and we made our way off the train, I was met by an amazing surprise. The guys were already off and waiting for us, and standing next to them were my two favorite big brothers. I screamed and ran to them.

"Fred! Georgie! I MISSED YOU!" I nearly knocked them both over at once, and was also joined by Ginny. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" I said once I was able to let go of them.

"Mum was busy cleaning, so we offered to come pick you guys up. Aren't you guys glad to see us?"

"Of course!" We all shouted together.

…

It was Christmas Eve, and Lupin and Tonks were over. I really wanted to sit and talk to them, but then Harry started getting on about Snape and all his conspiracy junk, and then Lupin started to get angry with him, so I left. I started playing games with Fred and George. It was way less depressing. We went outside so we had more room, which was a good idea because Molly had started to glare at us from the kitchen.

"So, Tal, how come you stopped writing?" Fred said with a pout.

"Yeah, don't you love us anymore?" George said, also pouting.

"Oh, get off. After that last letter you wrote me, Fred, which was absolutely no help at all, I decided to take things into my own hands. And things worked out just fine, thank you very much."

"Well, that's good. No more Malfoy problem?" Fred asked.

"Well, let's just say I wouldn't call it a problem anymore."

"Good!" yelled George, and enthusiastically threw an exploding snap on the ground, which almost made his jacket catch fire. This made us laugh. But then my head started hurting.

"Man, my head hurts right now." I said, and Fred and George looked at me with concern, like they were about to say something, but then they were interrupted by Molly.

"Kids, come say goodbye to Remus and Tonks!" So we made our way toward the house. But a movement in my peripheral stopped me, and I saw Malfoy hiding around the corner. I ran to him.

"What are you doing here? If anyone sees you-" I whispered, but he cut me off

"Never mind that. You guys have to get out of the house, immediately. Some Death Eaters are coming, and they're going to set everything on fire."

"What! Why?"

"Why do you think? They're evil! Just get everyone out, now. And stay safe. I have to go; if they catch me here they'll kill me. And you. Now go!" And he ran off into the tall grass field, where he must have apparated or something. I ran around to the front, but I was too late. Bellatrix was there, shouting, and she cast a huge circle of fire around the house.

"Oh God." I said. This was a new kind of nightmare. Suddenly Harry burst out the door, which made Bellatrix run into the field. He followed her, and we started to yell. And then Ginny appeared in her robe, and ran after him. I tried to follow them, but Fred grabbed ahold of my arms.

"No, you can't! It's too dangerous!" He said.

"But they might need help!" I shouted.

"We'll go!" Said Arthur, and he and Lupin and Tonks all chased after them.

A second later, none other than Fenrir Greyback apparated right where Bellatrix had. He started to turn to the field, but when he caught a drift of air, he sniffed it and turned. He looked straight at me.

"Siren." He said. How could he know that? Could he smell me? I backed into Fred as I tried to get away, because Greyback had started to walk towards me. But when he heard a shout from behind him, he changed his mind. "Another time, perhaps." And he left. If Fred hadn't been holding me up, I would've collapsed.

When we heard someone flying above, we looked up just in time for them to shoot flames at the house, which quickly went up in flames. The look of horror on everyone's faces was the worst part. This was their house. Our house. And we had to watch it burn to the ground.

"Come on, everyone, you can stay at our house." Tonks said, and Lupin nodded in agreement.

"Oh, you guys are so sweet. But we all won't fit in your house, Tonks." Said Molly, struggling to keep it together.

"Don't worry, mum. You and dad can go to their house; the rest can stay at our flat in Diagon Alley until they go back to school." Said Fred.

"That could work. But AFTER Christmas. You all are spending tomorrow at our house. You need to spend it as a family." Said Lupin, and we all left the burrow.

…

_Dear Talia,_

_Are you okay? Is everyone okay? I wish I could have come and warned you sooner. Thankfully, I didn't get caught sneaking out to come to you. I can't be away long, so I'm afraid this letter will have to be short. I just needed to make sure you got everyone out alright. I'll see you at school._

_Draco._

Oh, Draco. I can't believe he ever made me think he was evil. It must be torture for him, being trapped in that house, pretending he wants to be there. I sat in Fred and George's flat, the last day before the holiday ended. Christmas Day had actually gone okay. We were all still pretty upset about The Burrow, but everyone had made it a mission to have a good Christmas. Somehow, and to this day I can't figure out how, Molly had saved all the scarves and sweaters she knitted for us. That woman is a saint. Finally, I got around to writing Draco back.

_Dear Draco,_

_Yes, everyone is just fine. We spent Christmas Day with Remus Lupin and his wife, Tonks, and now we're staying at Fred and George's flat until school starts again. I'm sure everyone would like to know you were concerned. Well, maybe. But, thank you._

_I'm glad you didn't get into any trouble. I really miss you, and I can't wait to see you at school._

_Talia._

"Hey Tal, were all going to go get something to eat! Hermione's gonna meet us there. Coming?" George shouted from somewhere in the flat.

"Yeah, just a sec!" I folded the envelope, put it in the envelope, and sealed it. In my somehow fancy yet messy handwriting, I wrote _Draco Malfoy _on it, and then remembered something. "Hey, Harry! Can I borrow Hedwig for something?" I yelled at him, wherever he was.

"Yeah, sure!" And I gave her the letter, and looked her straight in the eye.

"Now listen. If you tell Harry who this letter is to, I won't give you a treat when you get back. Got it?" She clicked her beak, so I took that as a confirmation. "Good." And she flew.

We went over to the Leaky Cauldron, and got some lunch. Fred and George weren't very good at making meals, so we went out most days at least once. The Leaky Cauldron was very good at giving you meals so big, it would practically count as two meals. I'd always loved their food.

"This is so good." I said. Hermione looked at me.

"You get the same thing every day."

"Because it's SO good!" And everyone laughed. Ginny was looking at me with a weird look in her eyes. "What?" I asked her, with food in my mouth.

"Talia, I think you should get a boyfriend. You seem lonely." I started choking on my food. Was this a joke? Did someone tell her? When I looked at Hermione, she looked amused, but shook her head as if to say she didn't tell a soul. Well, I think it was time to tell Ginny myself.

"Hey, Ginny, I'm all done. Do you wanna go shop? We can talk about this boyfriend thing."

"Sure!" And I looked Back at Hermione, and she looked very proud of me. The others just looked confused. Good.

When we were down the alley a bit, I stopped and turned to her.

"Listen, Ginny, there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now, but I just couldn't decide how, and then you and Dean broke up and I thought it wasn't the right time, and then what with our house burning…"

"Talia, you can tell me anything. ANYTHING. We're practically sisters. You know what, never mind. We ARE sisters. So spit it out already!"

"I… already have a boyfriend."

"No way! Who is it?" I let out a huge sigh. I didn't think I was ready to say it. But it had to be done.

"Draco Malfoy."

Hermione POV

We sat there, talking, but all I could think about was how Ginny was taking the news. It could go either way, really. But no matter what, I knew Talia was doing the right thing. She couldn't keep this to herself forever, and the sooner she told Ginny, the sooner she could get around to telling everyone else. What I was really nervous about was when Harry would find out. That would be bad.

I was just sipping some soup when I saw Talia back up right outside the window, with her hands up. She was talking frantically, trying to explain. And then Ginny came through, and she was positively furious. Uh oh. A few seconds later, Talia came back by the window, but this time she was running for her life, with Ginny chasing her. This made me swallow my soup the wrong way, and someone had to pat my back and give me some water.

"Hermione, what's the matter?" Said Harry. Once I got ahold of myself, I got up.

"Nothing, I just remembered that I was going to buy this new book while I was here and I TOTALLY forgot about it. I'm gonna go grab that, and then maybe I'll collect Talia and Ginny and meet you back at the flat. Sound good?" And I dashed outside, trying to spot where they were. I couldn't see them, but then I heard Ginny shout from a little alleyway and I followed her angry voice.

"Ginny, please, you have to listen-"

"Listen? LISTEN? How can I listen? You just told me that you're shagging Draco Malfoy! MALFOY! Have you just forgotten all the crap he's put us through the past five and a half years?"

"Of course not! It's not like I wanted this!" Talia was crying. I went over to her.

"Ginny, you have to hear her out. It's not what you think. Honestly." I said. This seemed to make Ginny even angrier.

"You KNEW about this? And you're OKAY with it?"

"Yes, I am. Because I took the time to listen to them. And I trust her. If you are a good friend-"

"Don't talk to me about being a 'good friend'! A GOOD friend wouldn't be hooking up with this horrible-" But Talia cut her off with a yell.

"I LOVE HIM, GINNY! Do you hear me? I love him." This made Ginny cool down a bit. She wasn't expecting that, I bet.

"You… love him?" She said, calmly.

"Yes. So, so much. I've never felt this way before. And I know he loves me back." She grabbed this beautiful, sapphire necklace that was around her neck. "He makes me happier than I've been since my sister died. He's the only one who makes my nightmares go away, besides Fred. I love him." She paused. "I… I told him. About me. My secret."

"What?" Ginny and I said together. I didn't know about this.

"Yeah. The night before break started, we spent the night together. And I felt so close to him… and we had this amazing talk, and this REALLY amazing sex, and I had to tell him. It was right. And I know I can trust him. He's different, Ginny, so much different than he used to be. I can see it. And I made him promise to leave you guys alone. And he wants Harry to win this war. More than anyone." There was silence, while Ginny processed everything Talia just said. Please, God, let her be okay with this. Finally, she spoke.

"I… do trust you, Tal. And I'm so sorry I burst out at you like that, you didn't deserve it."

"It's okay. I understand, really. You should have seen how Blaise took it at first."

"Blaise? Blaise Zabini? What does he have to do with everything?" Me and Tal looked at each other, knowing we had to tell her.

"Come on, we'll explain everything on the way back to the flat."

Talia POV

Once Ginny was all caught up, you wouldn't believe how relieved I felt. My two best friends, the ones I had longed to talk to about everything, were finally in the know. It was as if a million bricks were lifted off my shoulders. I could finally breathe again. When we were back in our temporary room, they were finally asking me all the questions normal girlfriends would ask.

"So, who's better in the sack? Blaise, or Malfoy?" Ginny asked.

"Malfoy. No contest."

"And what do you call him? I mean, for the last five years it's been 'Malfoy'. That seems like something it would be hard to overcome." Said Hermione.

"It was. And I called him Malfoy, at first. But when we said we loved each other, we became closer, somehow. And I just started calling him Draco." I said.

"You know, it makes sense that you were sleeping with Blaise. He's actually not that bad. Once, a few years ago, Malfoy called me the 'M' word, and Blaise totally thumped him on the head."

"I remember that! Boy, Malfoy really was a tosser back in the day, wasn't he?" I said, and we laughed.

"Yes. Yes he was." Said Ginny. She still seemed a little uneasy about the whole thing, but she was trying. And I loved her for that.

"You know, he really does love you. Lately, I mean before the holiday, I've been watching him in classes and stuff. And he always looks so unhappy. But when he looks at you, or your eyes meet, his whole face brightens. It's like you give him hope." Said Hermione. I blushed. "Who would've thought that you and Malfoy could become something so… amazing?"

"I know, right? And the thing is, in some ways, he's still the Malfoy we've always known. Snarky, sarcastic, and pretty resentful when it comes to some things. But he's nice. And he's really trying to be something other than his father."

"Whose father? Who are you guys talking about?" Ron said. He had apparently poked his head in the door, and had been listening for a few seconds.

"Ronald, what are you doing? Get out of here right now!" I yelled at him.

"Alright, alright! Fred just wanted me to tell you guys that we're leaving bright and early tomorrow, so you should get a good night's sleep!" And then he retreated, mumbling something about us being 'bloody lunatics'. Oh, Ronald and his vocabulary.

"Yeah, let's get to bed. I'm bushed." And we went to sleep


	14. Chapter 14

**The Other Secret**

Malfoy and I had plans to meet in the Room of Requirement the first night back to school. I was really nervous, because I'd been wanting to discuss something with him ever since I heard him with Snape. I put on my Batman underwear under my Superman pajama pants; because I knew he liked that. I expected to find him all calm and cool, waiting for me. But he was a mess. He was pacing in front of this huge cabinet, which looked exactly like the one we saw at Borgin and Burkes. He was sort of mumbling/talking to himself, and he looked terrified. Things were a mess (more than usual), like he had been throwing things.

"Draco, what's going on?"

"I can't do this! I can't! This is too much pressure; I can't deal with this…"

"Whoa, hold on a second. Slow down, and talk to-"

"No! I can't! They'll kill me, all of us, I don't have any more time—"

"Draco, please, just let me help."

"No more time…"

"Time for what?"

"For this…" He collapsed on the floor, crying. Great, my boyfriend was crazy. I went over to him, sat down behind him, and started rubbing his back. Slowly, I felt him relax into my hand, so I moved closer to him and put my chin on his shoulder.

"You good now?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"Good. You scared me there for a minute."

"I'm sorry you had to see that. It wasn't my proudest moment."

"Hey, we all have our moderately insane moments." He laughed. "What was that about, anyway?"

"I don't think I can tell you." I moved around to his front. Dear God, how many of these talks were we going to have to have?

"Draco Malfoy. You should never have to say that to me, you can tell me anything. And after that little trip to crazy town you just took, I think you DO need to tell me." He waited for a while. "Draco?"

"There's something I have to do."

"What, right now? It's the middle of the night, what could you possibly—"

"No, not right now. I mean, that's what I was stressing about. I have to do something, and I don't think I can do it.

"You mean… like a task?"

"Yeah, a task. You-Know-Who chose me to do this horrible thing, but I just can't."

"Then don't."

"But I have to! If I don't he'll kill my family. And me, for that matter."

"Oh. I see you're problem." We were quiet for a while. Somehow, we had moved so that we were lying together on a couch.

"So, tell me more about being a Siren." He asked me, apparently wanting to change the subject. I guess I could understand that.

"What do you want to know?"

"I read once that Sirens can, like, control people's minds. Can you?"

"In a way, yes. It's more about controlling their emotions, though."

"How does that work?"

"It all depends on what I sing. If I sing something sad, they get sad. If I sing something happy, they get happy. I could sing a song about suicide, and it would make someone want to kill themselves."

"So, say you sang about having sex…" I giggled.

"Yes, that's the idea." I sighed. "I really miss it."

"Sex?"

"No, you tosser! Singing."

"Well, why can't you?"

"Well… I… uh… I don't know." And he smiled deviously. "Draco Malfoy, what are you up to?"

"Accio guitar." Guitar? What? He got up and went to the window. And a few seconds later, he was holding this beautiful, golden acoustic guitar.

"You play the guitar?" He nodded.

"And Piano, and a little violin as well." He bowed.

"You have no idea how much more attractive you are now."

"Really? Well then, you might be excited to learn that I have my very own guitar collection."

"Oh baby." He laughed. "Do you have, like, a pick for every single guitar?"

"No. Just one."

"Like a lucky pick?"

"Naw, I've just really grown attached to this one. My mom gave it to me a very long time ago, because I think she suspected my fascination with guitars."

"How come you haven't told me this before?"

"Well, I've never told ANYONE, really. Just Blaise, and that's only because his house was the only place I could practice, growing up." He sat back down on the couch and I laid my feet on his lap, where his guitar was resting. He started to strum a low, beautiful melody, which sounded as if he had written it. I was so relaxed. It felt like we were flying up in the clouds. After a little while, his tune transformed into one I recognized, and I couldn't help myself from singing the matching lyrics.

_Heart beats fast_

_Colors and promises_

_How to be brave?_

_How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?_

_But watching you stand alone_

_All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer…_

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_Time stands still_

_Beauty in all she is_

_I will be brave_

_I will not let anything take away_

_What's standing in front of me_

_Every breath_

_Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer…_

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_One step closer…_

_One step closer._

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

It's like we were both coming out of a trance. He stopped playing, I stopped singing, and we were both catching our breath. His eyes were glowing green, which told me that mine were doing the same. Finally, he spoke.

"That was amazing."

"I shouldn't have done that. It could've gone a lot worse."

"Your eyes… are mine the same?"

"Yes. I was sucking your energy. Feels good, doesn't it?" But I didn't get to hear his answer. All of a sudden, he was kissing the life out of me, and we were rolling around on the floor. How did I not feel that fall? As he started removing my clothes, I stopped worrying and started enjoying. Well, I supposed it was one way to burn off that energy I had just taken from him.

And boy was it fun.

….

"Is it me, or was that better than the last times?" He said after we had finished.

"It definitely wasn't you. It was just an after effect of my singing."

"Remind me to trick you into singing more often."

"Ha ha, very funny. We can't make a habit of this. The more I sing, the more I don't want to stop. It's a very addictive power."

"Mmhmm. Okay. Whatever you say." He wasn't going to listen to me. Great.

"Whatever." I said, a little annoyed.

"Oh, come on now. Don't be mad. You're too sexy to be mad, what with your Batman underwear, and your amazing body." He looked at me with his sexy, smoldering gaze. I smiled.

"Keep going." And we laughed. "Hey, I've been wondering about something."

"What?"

"How do you know about all this muggle stuff? You know, Batman, and you've totally made a few Doctor Who/Bowtie comments, not to mention that quote from The Princess Bride you said."

"Well, growing up with my parents was a very cold, sheltered childhood. I could never do anything that they, my father at least, deemed useless. So when I met Blaise at a party they threw, and he started talking about how wonderful and open-minded his parents were, we became best friends. I spent so much time over at his house, watching movies and TV, reading books, and his parents are the ones who taught me to play my instruments. To this day, I'm welcome at their house when I need to forget my life for a little while. And to this day, they promise to never tell my parents."

"Wow. They seem great." He smiled.

"Yeah, they are. And you'll probably meet them before you meet my actual parents." His face fell. I think I knew what he was thinking about.

"Draco, I've put a few pieces of your secrets together. Why do you have to do this awful task? Why can't you let Snape do it? You know he's willing to, he made the Unbreakable V—"

"I can't let him do this for me. The Dark Lord will know it wasn't me. And… I know my parents aren't exactly parents of the year, but they're still my family. I love them. I couldn't live with myself if they died because I was too weak."

"Draco, not doing this task wouldn't be weak. It would be brave. And even though I don't know what this task is, I DO know that it will ruin you. Please, Draco, just think about it. Please?" He took a long time to answer, and he seemed reluctant, but sincere.

"Okay. You're right. I'll think about it."

"Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to recreate what we did earlier."

"Oh, I suppose."

….

"You're lucky you weren't killed." Hermione said, as she walked with me and Harry down the corridor. It was the day after we got back, and we were all looking at Hermione's copy of the Daily Prophet. As per usual these days, the headlines were not very happy to read. Gloomy, one might say. "You have to realize who you are, Harry."

"I KNOW who I am, Hermione, okay?" Hermione glared at him for raising his voice at her. "Sorry."

"So, tell us what Arthur said when you talked to him." I said. I could tell Hermione was as anxious as I was to hear about it.

"He said that if Dumbledore is traveling, then that's news to the Ministry. But get this: That night that we saw Draco in Knocturn Alley? He was looking at a Vanishing Cabinet." Oh crap. Keep a straight face, Talia, you know nothing about this.

"What would Dr—Malfoy be doing with a Vanishing Cabinet?" I said. Way to keep it cool.

"You tell me."

"What! Why would I tell you, I don't even know anything." I said, too fast. They both stared at me. Oh, right. He wasn't being literal. Then Hermione saved me by saying something.

"He looks different, don't you think? Malfoy? He looks ill, I think."

"Who could tell the difference?" Harry said, and I about hexed him for insulting my boyfriend like that. But that would be bad. Then, we heard a commotion ahead of us, and saw Lavender practically wrapped around Ron, who was wearing this God awful necklace.

"Of course I'll wear it." He said, uncertainly. Lavender giggled. Ugh, too much pep.

"That's my Won Won!" She squeaked.

"Excuse me, I have to go and vomit." Hermione said, and walked back the other day. Harry and I looked at each other, both wishing we could help her.

"I have to get to class, and then I have another meeting with Dumbledore. See you in the common room later?" He said to me, walking ahead a little faster, but looking back at me.

"You mean where you tell us all about your meeting, and what memory he shows you this time, that could possibly help you defeat Lord Voldemort? Wouldn't even dream of missing it." I said, smiling. He mirrored my smile, and waved to me. I felt so bad for him. He was a really great guy, and he had all this pressure to save the world and crap. And he didn't even have the confidence he should. It was a good thing we all had more than enough confidence in him.

….

"And so basically, it went all foggy and Slughorn started yelling at Tom for something I didn't even get to hear. It was all very confusing, but Dumbledore said it was supposed to be."

"And you have no idea what he might have been talking about?" I asked. This was all so strange. Why was Dumbledore being so cryptic?

"No. But Dumbledore said that that's because Slughorn must have tampered with the memory somehow, because he was ashamed of whatever he actually said that night.

"Well, that's ridiculous. It would be better for everyone if he just told the truth." Said Hermione.

"Think about it, Hermione. Maybe Slughorn thinks he may have had something to do with how Riddle turned out. Can you imagine what that would do to a person? The guilt?" I said to her.

"I suppose you're right." She said.

"What else did Dumbledore say?" Asked Ron.

"Well, he told me I need to collect the actual memory from Slughorn somehow."

"And exactly how are you going to do that?"

"I don't know! I'll think of something."

"Well, no pressure Harry, but the year's already half over. We're running out of time."

"Blimey, Talia, don't you think I know—Wait, did you say 'We'?"

"Of course. You don't think we're just gonna sit around and twiddle our thumbs while you do all this epic, world saving shit, do you? Please." I said.

"Yeah man, when have we ever just 'sat around'?" Said Ron.

"No matter how many detentions we got, our how many times we could've been killed." Said Hermione. Harry looked at us, and if he were a girl, he would've gotten all teary-eyed and started playing with a lock of his hair.

"Thanks, you guys. I'm sorry I've been such a git lately."

"Yeah, we may forgive you eventually." I said, but we all knew there was nothing to forgive.

Draco POV

I was walking down the hallways, taking the all too familiar path to the Room of Requirements. I knew I'd told Talia I'd think about not doing this, but I still had to try. I had to do this. I couldn't let my family die. I took the white bird from the cage, not thinking about what I was going to do to it. Hopefully, it wouldn't be harmed. I'd been working on this Vanishing Cabinet all year. It had to work.

I heard someone following me, so I set the bird in my pocket and sped up. I bet it was Potter, he was always wary of me these days. Harry, I mean Harry. I had to get used to calling him that. I didn't even dislike him anymore. He was my only hope. Finally, I had reached the entrance before he caught up with me.

I weaved my way through the stacks of random junk, having memorized the path ages ago. When I found the Cabinet, I fished the bird out of my pocket, giving a little chuckle. If Talia had been there, she would've insisted we name him. And it would've been some ridiculously ordinary name, like Larry, or Bob.

Talia.

She brought out the best in me. I couldn't believe how in love I was with her. I mean, first I told her I got the Dark Mark, and then I told her about my guitar collection. I never thought I'd tell her those things, but she was just so easy to talk to.

I pulled the drape off the huge cabinet, but I didn't open the doors right away. Instead, I stroked the bird for a while, because it sort of reminded me of Talia. It was beautiful, and fluttery, and so soft and delicate. Although, Talia was hardly delicate. I hate to think this, but if she was a Death Eater, she would've been better suited for this task than I am.

I looked into the bird's black eyes, and placed it in the Cabinet. It fluttered around while I closed the doors, and I felt a pang of guilt, though I didn't know why. I put my hands on the doors and muttered the incantation used for this cabinet. When I opened the door, the bird was gone. It had worked, for the first part. Now if I could just get it back, everything would be set. As I closed the doors again, I found a white feather on my suit sleeve. I held it up in the light, examining it, stalling the inevitable. I muttered the words once again, and heard the sound of a huge gust of wind that told me something had worked. But when I looked into the cabinet, what I saw terrified me.

The bird was dead.

Talia POV

"Are you serious, Harry? You do realize you probably just made things worse for yourself, don't you?" Harry had just told us about how he approached the whole Slughorn memory situation. I couldn't believe he had done that.

"Yes, Talia, and thank you so much for pointing that out."

"She has a point, Harry. Did you actually think you could just walk up to him, and ask him to reveal his biggest, darkest secret? Honestly, they should call you 'The Dim One'." Hermione said, which made me laugh.

"Nice one." I said to her, and she did a little mini bow from where she was sitting on the couch in the common room. We were supposed to be studying, but the only thing Harry had been studying for the past half an hour was the Marauder's Map.

"Why are you studying that map so hard? You think you can sneak up on Slughorn and scare him into telling you?" I said, which made Hermione laugh. Man, we were on a roll today.

"I think Malfoy is leaving the castle." He said, and I jerked my head up to look at him.

"What would make you say that?" I asked him.

"I've seen it. I was following him the other day, and he turned a corner, and I was right behind him. But when I turned the corner, he was gone. And sometimes, on the map, he just disappears." I would've panicked, if it hadn't been for Hermione's amazing wit.

"That's ridiculous; no one leaves the castle these days. The map must be wrong."

"The map is never wrong, Hermione."

"I don't know why you're still going on about Malfoy, Harry. You should be focusing on helping Dumbledore get Slughorn's memory."

"I'm trying, Tal." He stood up. "I'm going to head to bed now."

"Hey, can I borrow your cloak for a while, Harry? I've got some sneaking around of my own to do, and I'm tired to almost getting caught."

"Yeah, sure. Come upstairs and help me look for it."

"Thanks, dude. You can take it back whenever you need it."

"Sure." I followed him up the stairs to his dormitory. We talked about ways he could get the memory from Slughorn, when we reached the door. When Harry opened it, there were candy wrappers everywhere, and Ronald was sitting in a window sill.

**A.N. F.Y.I., that song is called A Thousand Years and it's by Christina Perri. Yes, I am aware it's from Breaking Dawn. No, I'm not a Twilight fan. I'm just a Christina Perri fan.**


	15. Chapter 15

**The Wonderful Break-Up**

"Ronald, are you okay?" I asked him. I saw his reflection in the mirror, and he had this dopey, dazed look on his face. Me and Harry exchanged worried looks.

"Ron?" Harry said.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon…" We noticed a box of chocolates by his side.

"Divine. Had ourselves a little late night snack, did we?" Harry asked him. Ron kept the same dazed expression as he turned to face us.

"It was sitting on your bed, the box. Thought I'd try one."

"Or twenty." I said.

"I can't stop thinking about her, you guys." Seriously?

"Really? I reckoned she was starting to annoy you." Harry said, and I nodded.

"She could never annoy me. I think I love her." We stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Excuse me?" I said, and he nodded. Once again, we exchanged glances.

"Well, brilliant."

"Do you think she knows I exist?" Okay, this was officially getting weird.

"I bloody well hope so, she's been snogging you for three months." I said. And breaking the heart of my best friend while doing it, I thought to myself. Ron looked confused now.

"Snogging? Who are you talking about?"

"Who are YOU talking about?" Harry asked.

"Romilda, of course. Romilda Vane." Oh shit.

"Okay, very funny." Harry said, which made Ron get angry and throw the box at him.

"What the hell was that for?" I said to Ron.

"This isn't a joke! I'm in love with her!" He shouted.

"Okay, fine! You're in love with her! Have you ever actually met her?" Harry said, and Ron calmed down.

"No. Can you introduce me?" And then he went back to his original spot by the window. I went over to look at the box with Harry, where sure enough, was a picture of Romilda Vane and a little note that said, 'Dear Harry, thinking sweet thoughts of you, happy Valentine's Day, Romilda'. Harry and I exchanged glances, remembering that we had heard that she was trying to smuggle him a love potion.

"Ron, these chocolates, they're—" I started to say, but Harry had a better idea.

"Come on, Ron, we're going to introduce you to Romilda Vane." I looked at him, and hoped he knew what he was getting us into.

Hermione, along with everyone else, had obviously gone off to bed already, so no one saw us dragging Ron out the portrait hole. After a few minutes, I realized where Harry was taking us. Brilliant, Harry.

As he banged on Slughorn's door, Ron started to get fidgety.

"Do I look alright?" He asked me.

"Devastatingly handsome, Ronald." And he smiled. Finally, we heard footsteps on the other side of the door, then a loud crash, followed by Slughorn yelling a loud profanity. Good ol' Sluggy. He opened the door, still quite groggy.

"Yes?! Oh, Potter, it's you. I'm afraid I'm quite busy at the moment." He started to close the door, but I stuck my foot in it just in time. It hurt, and I was sure there would be a nasty bruise there in the morning.

"I'm sorry, sir, we wouldn't bother you if it weren't absolutely important—"

"Is Romilda in there?" Asked Ron from behind us, which got Slughorn's attention.

"What's the matter with Wenby?" He asked. I leaned forward so Ron couldn't hear me.

"He's taken a very powerful love potion, Professor."

"Ah. Very well, bring him in." So we went into his office, where Ron sat on the back of a couch, hugging a pillow. Man, this boy was thick. "I'd have thought you could whip up a potion for this in no time, Harry, an expert like you."

"I figured this called for a more practiced hand, sir." Harry said. Slughorn chuckled appreciatively.

"Hello darling, fancy a drink?" Ron said to no one. Really, really thick.

"Perhaps you're right." Slughorn said.

"I'm sorry, sir, for our misunderstanding—" Harry said, but Slughorn waved his apology away.

"Yes, well, water under the bridge, as they say, right?" but he still looked wary of Harry. He he, wary of Harry. I was a poet, and I didn't even know it. I sat on a chair in the room, not wanting to interrupt them. This was a good plan Harry had here.

"I mean, I'm sure you're tired of hearing it after all these years, the questions. About Voldemort—"

"Don't say his name!" Slughorn said very sternly, which startled both Harry and I.

"Sorry, sir. It's just, Dumbledore once said that fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself. It seemed to make sense." Harry said. Bold move, Harry.

"Yes, well, with all due respect, Dumbledore sometimes forgets that most people don't have powers so great that we can risk offending the most dangerous dark lord who ever lived." He had a point. It seemed that the potion was ready, as Slughorn went over to Ron and handed it to him. "Alright, my boy, bottoms up!"

"What is this?" Ron said, eyeing it nervously.

"It's a tonic, for the nerves." Which Ron seemed to believe, and he downed the potion right away. Slowly, his face changed, and he started to come around.

"What happened?"

"Love potion." I said, for the first time in a while.

"Bloody strong one, at that." Slughorn said.

"I feel… bad." Poor Ron. Slughorn went to his pantry.

"Pick-me-up is what you need, my boy!" He glance at Harry, "Do us all some good, I think. I've got Butterbeer… wine… ah, and a dazzling oak-matured mead! I had other intentions for this, but given the circumstances…" He filled four glasses and handed them out to each of us. Ron started drinking first, apparently parched. As the rest of us clinked glasses, Ron crashed to the floor before we had chances to drink.

"Ron!" I said, and sat next to him. Harry was at his other side in a matter of seconds. Ron was shaking, as if having a seizure, and I was afraid this was something serious. "Professor, do something!" I cried, but he was too confused.

"But… I don't understand…" But Harry was already up and on his way to the supply cupboard.

"He's choking!" I said, almost crying now. Harry was digging around in the supplies, until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed a small, brown stone, and ran back over to us. He shoved it down Ron's throat, which made Ron stop shaking instantly. The room was completely silent, and Ron wasn't breathing anymore.

"Come on, Ron." I whispered.

"Breathe." Harry said. And then Ron drew in a shaky breath, and opened his eyes. Harry and I Iet out sighs of relief.

"These girls are gonna kill me, Harry." And with that, he passed out, but kept breathing. Harry and I smiled at him.

….

We took Ron to the Hospital wing, where he stayed unconscious all night. We never left his side. That morning, I awoke to Harry gently shaking my shoulder, because people were starting to arrive to check up on Ron. Soon we were surrounded by Dumbledore, Snape, Slughorn, McGonagall, Ginny, and a very stricken Hermione.

"Quick thinking on your part, Harry, using the bezoar. You must be very proud of your student, Horace." Dumbledore said. I couldn't help but remember that it was in fact Snape who taught us about bezoars, but I didn't want to correct him at the moment.

"Huh? Oh, yes, very proud." Slughorn said.

"I think we can all agree that Potter's actions were heroic! The question is, why were they necessary?" Said McGonagall.

"Why, indeed." Said Dumbledore. He was examining the liquor bottle that had poisoned Ron. "This appears to be a gift, Horace. You don't, by chance, happen to remember who gave it to you, do you? Which, by the way, possesses remarkably subtle hints of licorice and cherry, when not diluted with poison."

"Actually, I had intended to give it as a gift, myself."

"To whom, might I ask?" And then Slughorn suddenly looked ashamed.

"To you, Headmaster." And then the doors burst open, and a distraught Lavender Brown came rushing into the room to be with Ron.

"Where is he? Where's my Won Won? Has he been asking for me?" she stopped when she saw Hermione, and got all upset. "What's she doing here?" Hermione stood up.

"I might ask you the same question!" She said. You go, Hermione. Tell her whose boss.

"I happen to be his girlfriend!"

"Well, I happen to be his… friend."

"Don't make me laugh. You haven't spoken in weeks! I suppose you want to make up with him now that he's suddenly all interesting."

"He's been poisoned, you daft dimbo! And for the record, I've always found him interesting." Ron snorted suddenly, which made us all look at him.

"See? He senses my presence. I'm here, Won Won, I'm here…" Ron started mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like Hermione's name, and turned toward her. Smiling, Hermione takes Ron's hand. I wished I could pat her on the back. Lavender got super angry, and stalked out of the wing. Dumbledore smiled.

"Ah, to be young and feel love's keen sting. Come along, everyone, I think Mr. Weasley is in good care." Dumbledore, you genius. We all started filing out, but Ginny and I stopped by Harry.

"About time, don't you think?" Ginny said, glancing over at Ron and Hermione.

"Tell me about it." I said, grinning. We all were looking at Hermione, and when she looked up at us, she smiled.

"Shut up."


	16. Chapter 16

**The Surprise Date**

We all went to breakfast after that, leaving Hermione and Ron alone for a while. For Christmas, I had gotten Draco and I these enchanted notebooks that allowed us to communicate. So, I could write something, and he would see it appear, and vice versa. On an impulse, I decided to grab it. When I saw that he was in the Great Hall also, I was excited we would get a chance to talk.

_Hey there_, I wrote to him. I looked over to him, hoping he would notice, and the immediate smile on his face told me he did.

_Hey. This was a really great idea, you know_. He wrote.

_I know, right? I'm such a genius_. I looked over to him, and saw him laugh out loud, which made all the other Slytherins stare at him.

_Hey, how is Ron? I heard something happened to him_.

_He'll be alright. He was poisoned._

_What! How?_

_Well, he accidentally took this love potion that Romilda Vane sent for Harry._

_That doesn't surprise me. That Romilda gave Harry a love potion, I mean. That girl will go after any guy who's even mildly famous. _

_I know, right? Anyway, Harry and I took him down to Slughorn so he could fix it, which he did._

_That's good._

_Yeah, but then Slughorn decided to share this bottle of some sort of brandy or something, which turned out to be poisoned, and Ron drank his first. I guess that was the only reason the rest of us didn't get poisoned, too_. I looked over at Draco, and he suddenly looked panicked. _What's wrong?_ I wrote to him.

_Nothing. I'm fine. Hey, you want to meet me in the Astronomy Tower tonight?_

_I'd love to! But we should meet somewhere else, like in the Room of Requirements or something._

_That would work. Why?_

_Because Harry has this magical map that he's been watching, where he can see everyone and where they are and what they're doing. And the Room of Requirements doesn't show up on the map._

_Where did he get that!?_

_I'm not telling you! I shouldn't even have told you that he has it!_ I said, and looked at him with a playfully evil grin on my face. He shook his head and started writing.

_Alright, I guess that's fair. Meet me there after curfew?_

_Perfect._

And then he got up and left, hurrying a bit. I wished I could help him somehow; he's got so much on his shoulders. Those wonderfully broad and muscly shoulders. And then I started fantasizing about him, and his hair, and his amazing body, and how he looks naked, and those beautiful eyes. Everyone always said that his eyes were grey, but when you saw them up close, they weren't any specific color. They were a perfect mixture of green and blue and even some speckles of gold. I loved him, so much. I felt a nudge in my side, and looked up from my gazing to see that it was Ginny. She leaned over to whisper at me.

"You were watching Malfoy leave, practically drooling."

"Oops. Sorry. And I was NOT drooling!" But I turned my head and wiped my face down, just to make sure. She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Harry said.

"Oh, Ginny and I were just discussing her break-up with Dean." I said, and Ginny turned red. Revenge is a bitch, Ginny.

"Oh, you two broke up, then?" He said, obviously trying to sound uninterested. Subtle, Harry.

"Yeah, a while ago. I just didn't want to talk about it." She said, turning toward me at that last part. I smiled big at her. That's right, Ginny.

"Hey, Harry, did Talia tell you about her new boyfriend?" I stared at her, terrified. I couldn't believe she had gone that far.

"You have a boyfriend, Talia?" He looked at me, interested. I hated Ginny just then. I couldn't seem to get any words out, so I was basically just sitting there, with my mouth open, looking like a dumbass.

"Yes! Well, she DID, at least. They broke up, too, though. I just thought that since we both had break-ups recently, we'd want to discuss them both." And Harry shrugged, and went back to his food.

I couldn't believe Ginny had thrown me under the bus like that, and then pulled me back out. I waited for her to look at me, which didn't take long, and gestured her to follow me out of the Hall. When we were safely out in the hall, we both burst out laughing. I mean, I was about ready to fall on the floor and start rolling around. Ginny was gasping for breath, and I was clutching my sides because they hurt. After we calmed down a little, we were able to talk.

"I can't believe he bought all that crap!" Ginny said.

"Holy Shit, Ginny, I can't believe you brought up Malfoy!"

"Well, come on, you KNOW you had it coming. You brought up my break up with Dean! In front of Harry!"

"I was just trying to cover up the fact that I was caught drooling over Draco Malfoy."

"So you admit you were drooling!" And then we started laughing again. Ginny and I had always been very close. She always reminded me of my sister, Kayla. It's not like I was replacing Kayla or anything, because no one ever could. But I always thought if Kayla had gotten to grow up, she'd be just like Ginny. We met up after class, deciding to skip supper and hang out in the Gryffindor Tower. We even snuck into the kitchen to get some food to bring up to the common room. Man, those elves just LOVED me. When we were sitting in our room, chomping on some snacks, Ginny started talking about Malfoy.

"So, how IS it going with you and Malfoy, anyway? I mean, I assume you guys didn't ACTUALLY break up, right?"

"No, we haven't broken up. Things are really great. To be honest, I can't imagine NOT being with him."

"Well, come on. Be realistic, here. It's not like you two will be together forever, right?" I stayed quiet, not making eye contact. "Are you serious?" Then I made eye contact. I smiled really big, and she smiled back. "Whoa. This is really serious, then."

"Yeah, it is. Actually, I'm meeting him tonight, and I've been trying to decide what to wear all day."

"Ooh, I can help with that. Do you think it will be somewhere fancy?"

"No way. We're just meeting somewhere in the castle, probably just talking and then kissing and then sex and then sleep. The usual. He really likes it when I wear blue."

"Okay, so casual with a bit of fancy underneath. Blue. We can work with that."

After a few minutes of going through all of my clothes, we had found the perfect outfit. Cute, casual, with a splash of blue. The same blue as the necklace Draco gave me for Christmas, the necklace I had worn every day since.

"Where the hell did you get all these clothes?" Ginny asked me, bewildered.

"They're mostly from thrift stores and blow-out sales."

"Are you serious?" I nodded.

"I'm a very skilled shopper."

"I can see that. This is amazing!"

"I'll remember to take you shopping more often. And feel free to ask me to borrow things, whenever you want."

"Yes yes yes!"

….

I walked through the halls, under the invisibility cloak, feeling a roller coaster of emotions. As usual. I mean, I always got super excited when we had plans to meet. I felt like it couldn't come fast enough. But I was also a little nervous. This was Draco Malfoy, Death Eater. I loved him, maybe always would, but I always felt something was going to happen that would ruin everything. Oh God, we were Romeo and Juliet. Our friends and families hate each other. This couldn't end well.

When I got to the Room of Requirements, I was only expecting to find Draco, sitting in front of the Vanishing Cabinet, with some food and drinks. Maybe even with a prepared bed and everything. But what I found instead amazed me, as usual. How does he always manage to amaze me? There were flowers everywhere, and candles (where does he get all these candles?!), and yes, a bed. With rose petals. He was wearing a black suit (what's new?), and looked amazing in it (again, what's new?).

"Wow. You've really outdone yourself this time, Malfoy." I said. He smiled, came over to me, hugged me, and then we kissed a very long kiss. "I feel so stupid. Me and Ginny spent, like, twenty minutes picking out this outfit, and I still feel completely under dressed." I said when we pulled away.

"You look amazing. As usual."

"What's all this for, anyway?"

"Well, we've done so much sneaking around and meeting up for quick sex in between classes, so I thought you deserved a little romance."

"You're the greatest boyfriend ever. I never thought I'd say that Draco Malfoy was the greatest boyfriend ever." I said, and we both laughed. Leaning against a random piece of furniture, was his guitar. "I see you brought the guitar again."

"I remembered that you said that you missed being able to sing. And I thought, since we already had sex, and you're already good at controlling it, that you could sing just for me. That seems to benefit both of us, don't you think?"

"I don't know…"

"Please? For me?" He gave me the cutest puppy dog eyes ever. Another thing he must have picked up at Blaise's house. I gave in.

"You bloody git."

"Yes!" And he ran over to the bed, grabbing his guitar, and started to softly play. He was so good at this. I sat next to him, leaning on some pillows.

_I'm dying to catch my breath_

_Why don't I ever learn?_

_I've lost all my trust,_

_Though I'm surely trying to turn it around_

_Can you still see_

_The heart of me?_

_All my agony fades away_

_When you hold me in your embrace_

_Don't tear me down, for all I need_

_Make my heart a better place_

_Give me something I can believe_

_Don't tear me down_

_You've opened the door now, don't let it close_

_I'm here on the edge again_

_I wish I could let it go_

_I know that I'm only one step away_

_For turning it around_

_Can you still see_

_The heart of me?_

_All my agony fades away_

_When you hold me in your embrace_

_Don't tear me down, for all I need_

_Make my heart a better place_

_Give me something I can believe_

_Don't tear it down, what's left of me_

_Make my heart a better place_

_I tried many times, but nothing was real_

_Make it fade away, don't break me down_

_I want to believe that this is for real_

_Save me from my fear_

_Don't tear me down_

_Don't tear me down, for all I need_

_Make my heart a better place_

_Don't tear me down, for all I need_

_Make my heart a better place_

_Give me something I can believe_

_Don't tear it down, what's left of me_

_Make my heart a better place_

_Make my heart a better place_

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." He said after we stopped.

"Me neither." I said.

"Isn't it weird that I always play a song that you know? Is that some sort of psychic Siren power thingy?"

"No, that's actually just a coincidence. We both just have great taste in music." We looked into each other's glowing, green eyes, and then we went at it. You know, maybe he was right. Singing for him wasn't that bad, if it was always going to end like this.

…

Bliss. Utter, complete bliss. That was what I was feeling at that moment. How could anything bad ever happen after something so amazing just took place? I knew it was crazy, but I couldn't even remember why I had felt nervous coming up here. There was nothing to be nervous about, or scared of, when I was with Draco Malfoy.

At least, that WAS how I felt. Until Malfoy RUINED it.

"There's something I need to tell you, Tal." He said after a few minutes.

"Go ahead."

"I'm not really sure how to go about this…"

"Draco, you can tell me anything. You know that."

"I know. But this is something that I don't think you'll be able to handle as gracefully as you have in the past." I sat up, and he did the same. I ran my fingers through his hair, hoping to relax him enough to talk. He sighed.

"I think I poisoned Ron."

My hand paused, and my eyes widened. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I was speechless. And I wasn't exactly sure, but I thought I might've been getting really angry. I shot out of bed, pulled a blanket with to wrap myself up in, and started pacing. I think I might have been muttering whilst biting my nails also, because Draco suddenly looked like I was losing my mind.

"Um, Talia, are you okay?"

"Oh, I don't know, _Malfoy_, do you think I'm okay?" Yep, definitely angry.

"Well…"

"YOU JUST TOLD ME YOU POISONED ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS! MY BROTHER! OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY! Oh God, that makes Ron Tibalt…" My face felt really hot.

"Talia, please just calm down and listen—"

"I can't listen to this, Malfoy! I just can't! Just let me vent for a second, okay?" He nodded, and leaned back down. I kept pacing, and muttering, and biting for a while. Like, five minutes. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. What was I going to do about this? This was some crazy shit! And what's worse, was my mind kept on changing emotions on me. I went from angry to terrified, from terrified to borderline depressed, and from that to exhausted, and back to angry. And finally, I cooled down, and went back to sit next to Draco.

"Okay, I think I'm good now. But you need to explain this."

"Look, first you just need to know that I didn't mean for this to happen. That bottle was not meant for Ron, or Slughorn for that matter. But I did poison it, and gave it to him. What makes this worse is that I just realized that it could've poisoned you, too. I didn't think of that."

"Well, of course you didn't. How could you know that we would be there, and he'd open the bottle with us?" He looked grateful that I understood, but he wasn't off the hook yet. "Draco, why did you poison that bottle? And you can't lie to me, or say that it's better that I don't know, because that won't work anymore."

"I know. I'll tell you." I could tell this was really hard for him, so I put my hand on his cheek. "I poisoned the bottle, and switched it with one he already had, because I knew he was going to give it to Dumbledore as a gift."

"But, why? Why would you want to poison Dumbledore? Unless…" I looked at him, and he looked completely defeated. And weak. Now that I really looked at him, I noticed how weak he's looked for a long time. "This is the task that Voldemort gave you, isn't it?" He nodded. "To kill Dumbledore." I moved my hand from his face to his hand, and he looked down at them. He looked like he might cry, but not the girly, snotty cry. The scared for his life cry. "Oh, Draco. This is awful." I pulled him in for a hug, and he hugged back as if his life depended on it. And then he wept. And I was there for him, to comfort him, to hold him, while he let out everything he had been bottling inside himself for the whole school year. "This is going to be alright, you know. It will be alright." He looked up at me.

"How?"

"Don't do it. Draco, I know you're afraid for your life, and your family's, but you can't do this. Please don't." He was thinking about what I was saying, I could see it in his eyes.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Alright. You're right, I can't do this. I won't." And after that, we didn't talk. Until Draco said something a little random.

"Hey, what did you mean when you called Ron 'Tibalt'?"

"Oh, earlier I was compairing our relationship to the Romeo and Juliet story."

"And Romeo kills Tibalt, who is part of Juliet's family. I see."

"Hey, don't think about it. We're okay, okay?"

"Okay." I pushed him back against the bed, and laid my head in his chest. And we slept.

**A.N. The song is called All I Need, and it's by Within Temptation. If you've never heard of the band, you should look them up. They're pretty hackin' awesome.**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Weasley Wizard Kings**

And in the morning, I got a note from Ginny saying to meet them at the Three Broomsticks ASAP. And when I started getting dressed, Malfoy pulled me back down and we had sex again.

"You know, most girls would complain that all their boyfriends want is sex all the time, but I'm not. I can't, really, since half the time I'M the one who wants sex. You should feel very lucky."

"Oh trust me, I do." I laughed and kissed him, and then I got up to start getting dressed. As I bent down to grab my shirt, I tripped over something and fell flat on my ass. It was hilarious, and Draco laughed for about five minutes.

"Oh, shut up."

I got fully dressed and headed for the doors. Draco caught up with me, and started talking.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to actually go out? I mean, like not in secret and everything. It'd be nice I could hang out with you and your friends once in a while; I'm starting to realize how depressing being a Slytherin is."

"Well, maybe someday, when they all don't hate you and/or think you're working for the evil dark lord we're all trying so hard to get rid of."

"But, I AM working for him."

"Well, yeah, but not by choice. And Harry's REALLY paranoid about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But after all this is over, I'll fix it. I promise."

"Okay. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. You wanna meet here later?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"I think I've been seeing more of this room than my own."

"Same here." We kissed again, and I left. And as I was walking, I thought to myself, "Man, we sure do kiss a lot." Only, it must not have been in my head.

"Not as much as I would like, Talia." McLaggen said, walking past me.

"Not even if you were the last guy with lips, McLaggen." But not even McLaggen flirting with me could bring down my mood. There was just something about sex that always made me feel high. And, yes, I know what feeling high feels like, sue me. I wondered if everyone felt this way after sex. Well, except for those poor, poor virgins.

Why did Ginny send me that note? What could possibly be so important? I mean, it's not like I've NEVER tasted butterbeer before, so it wasn't that. We'd been meeting with Sirius pretty regularly, so it couldn't have been that either. What the hell was it, then? I stopped by Honeydukes and grabbed some candy to calm my candy withdrawal symptoms, and walked into the Three Broomsticks with a caramel apple lollipop in my mouth. When I saw Ginny and Hermione at our usual table, I went over to them.

"Hey, what gives? You interrupted me and M—"

"HEY, TALIA look who we ran into a little while ago?" Before I had a chance to see who they ran into, two pairs of hands grabbed onto me, making me squeal. I turned to see the Weasley twins, and squealed again.

"Fred! George!" I hugged them so hard, I probably broke some ribs. But I didn't care. I turned to see Ron and Harry, who had just walked through the door. "And Ron! You're all better!"

"Yep, sure am."

"Too bad they couldn't do more." Said George.

"Yeah, we were really hoping they could do something about your face." Said Fred, and I slapped both of their heads.

"Be nice, he was just poisoned." I told them.

"We're sorry, little brother."

"Yeah, we actually think it's pretty bad ass that you got poisoned."

"Thanks, guys." Ron said, and then we all sat down.

"So, what are you guys doing here?" Harry asked the twins.

"We just came to visit our little brother! He was just poisoned, you know." Said George. Fred probably would've said something, but he was too busy analyzing my face with a huge smirk. I frowned at him.

"What?" I said to him.

"You've got the look on your face."

"What look?"

"You know what look. George, look at her face." George looked, and copied his brother's smile.

"Man, that sure is quite a look, Talia."

"What freaking look are you talking about, guys?" I asked them. They looked at each other, and then back at me.

"SEX LOOK!" They shouted together. A bunch of heads in the room turned to look at us, and my face turned red.

"Keep it down guys! It's not like I want the whole bloody world to know!"

"What's a sex look?" Asked Ron.

"Talia's face is totally screaming, "I've just had sex, and it was really good, so now I'm in a daze". Can't you tell?" Fred asked, so everyone started staring at me.

"Merlin's beard, guys, quit staring at me." I said, trying to hide my face from their view with my scarf. It wasn't working very well.

"So?" George asked.

"So what?" I said back.

"Who'd you have sex with?" Fred asked. I looked over at Ginny and Hermione for help, but they apparently wanted to see how I would do on my own. Gits.

"Please. Like it really matters what his name was?"

"Talia." Fred said. They were going to keep pressing this, I could tell. So, I panicked, and said the first name that came to mind. Well, after Malfoy, of course.

"Alright, fine. It was Blaise Zabini." They all looked at me like I was insane.

"Are you insane? You slept with a Slytherin?" Ron asked me, acting like I had made the biggest betrayal of all time.

"Oh please, Ronald. It's not like all Slytherins are evil! You KNOW Blaise isn't that bad. And it's not like we're dating, or anything. We both just scratched each other's itches, that's all." I looked over at Harry, ready to pounce on him. But I didn't have to.

"Hey, the way I see it, at least it wasn't Malfoy." Ouch, Harry. But at least he wasn't mad.

"Thank you, Harry." And then Fred spoke up.

"That's true. I think Blaise is too nice to be a Slytherin. He should've been a Hufflepuff, or something.

"Yeah! Even though no one has ever explained to me what exactly a Hufflepuff is. What the hell are they?"

"Well, Ernie MacMillan always says he's good at finding things. Maybe they're particularly good finders!" Ginny said, and we all laughed.

"Ginny, you say the funniest shit sometimes." I said.

"You do too!"

"That's what we get for growing up with these two." I said, pointing to Fred and George.

"You're lucky all you got from them was a sense of humor." Ron said, complaining. George rolled his eyes.

"Oh bloody hell, here we go again." He said.

"It was my favorite teddy bear! WHY would you do something like that to me?"

"Every time…" Fred said. Hermione and Harry looked confused.

"Uh, what about the teddy bear?" Harry asked. I took the liberty of explaining.

"Well, you see, when Ron was really young, the twins decided to turn his favorite teddy bear into a spider and scare him with it. Hence Ron's irrational fear of spiders."

"That makes so much sense…" Harry said. Hermione looked sympathetic and amused all at the same time.

"Ron, you've got to get over this already!" Fred said.

"Yeah, we've apologized a million times! It was just a bit of fun, we didn't realize it would affect you like this!" George said.

"Although, it was a pretty good prank…"

"And that little squeaky scream noise you made was quite hilarious…"

"Some of our best work, really…"

"Just shut it, you two." I said, and got up to leave. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some shopping to do. Please try and play nicely while I'm gone, I don't feel like playing moderator anymore."

I left to the sound of them arguing some more, with a smile on my face. I didn't realize I was being followed until Fred jumped in front of me to open the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked him as we walked out into the cool air of the afternoon.

"I just thought you might like some company." He said.

"Don't you want to hang out with the rest of them before you and George take off?"

"I'll catch up with them later. Can we talk for a bit?"

"Sure. I'm always up for a bit of girl talk."

"Very funny, Tal."

"I thought so. Come on, in here." I said, leading him into a clothing store. He didn't look happy to be shopping in here, but I didn't give a shit. He was the one who followed me. As I started looking through the clothes, Fred started talking again.

"Tal, I know Blaise isn't the one you were with this morning." Oh crap. How did he know that?

"Of course he is."

"How many times do I have to catch you lying to me, before you realize that I will ALWAYS catch you lying to me?" I didn't know what to say, so I stayed silent. He went to the other side of the rack so he could see my face. "Why don't you want me to know who you were with?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I know you won't like the truth. None of you will."

"Oh please, Talia. No one understands embarrassing hook-ups better than me."

"What if it wasn't a hook-up?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if this wasn't the first time? What if we've been seeing each other for months now, even though I know everyone hates him?" It took him a while to answer me.

"Why would you be with someone like that?"

"Because I love him, and he loves me, and he's not what everyone thinks." I could tell he wanted me to elaborate, so I sighed, and continued. "It started out as just a hook-up, okay? But after that first night, he told me he wanted it to be more. And I did too."

"And you believed him?" I nodded and smiled, remembering that night.

"He quoted The Princess Bride to me." Fred laughed.

"How did he know that that was the way to your heart?" We laughed for a few minutes, and then he spoke again. "Listen, Tal, I'm not gonna make you tell me if you don't want to. But when you're ready, just know that I'll do my best to keep an open mind."

"Thanks, Freddie." We did our little blow up the fist bump hand shake, and I went back to shopping. But then I had a thought.

"Really great sex." He looked surprised.

"What about it?"

"That's another reason why I'm with him. The sex is really great." He chuckled.

"I've been a terrible influence on you all these years."

"Well, it's too late to change now." We walked around the store for a few more minutes, I bought a few really cute outfits, and then we walked to the next store. This one was a store that sold casual day dresses. My kind of store.

"So, how come you said Blaise Zabini was the one you were sleeping with?" Fred asked me from outside the changing room, where I was trying on this really cute and comfortable black sweater dress.

"I don't know, it just came to my mind."

"Talia." He was so annoying!

"Dude, you can't even see my face! How can you tell I'm lying?"

"Because you just told me. Now talk." An evil genius, that man was.

"Fine. I said Blaise, because I'd been hooking up with him for a couple years before this guy."

"Really? A couple years?"

"Yep."

"Huh." He seemed thoughtful for a few minutes, and then asked another question. "How about your nightmares? Are you doing okay?" Finally, a topic I actually didn't mind talking about. I came out of the dressing room with a smile on my face.

"Better than okay. I haven't even been having them."

"What, you mean like for a couple weeks?"

"No, I mean like for a few months. Ever since I've been seeing this guy, I haven't had one single nightmare." He looked surprised.

"I have to say, I'm a little jealous that I'm not the only man in your life that can do that for you anymore." He pouted, so I laughed and hugged him.

"You'll always be important to me, Fred. You don't have to worry about that."

"I know. You wouldn't survive without me." Oh, cocky much?

"Listen here, buddy, I think it is YOU who wouldn't survive without ME!"

"Yeah, you're probably right." He backed up to look at me. "You should get that dress. It suits you."

"You think?"

"I think. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go catch up with George so we can go. Promise you'll write to me more?"

"Promise." He left, and it took me about two seconds to miss him. I bought my dress and left, planning on showing it to Malfoy when we met up later.

Fred POV

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Talia was seeing Malfoy. Honestly, I was surprised that no one else had figured it out sooner. Who else was there that she knew we all hated, and would be embarrassed to tell us? Well, besides McLaggen. But she would never go there.

Or maybe I just knew her better than anyone else. But either way, she was still dating Draco Malfoy. I was having a hard time accepting it, but I told her I would keep an open mind, even if she didn't know that I knew. But I sure hoped for her sake that he really had changed.


	18. Chapter 18

**The Bathroom Duel**

We overslept the next morning, so we had to rush downstairs in order to get some food. Okay, so maybe we didn't over sleep, so much as we woke up on time but sat around for an hour. The halls were just about deserted, so we got to walk the whole way together. When we got to the Great Hall, I couldn't bring myself to leave him. I couldn't get rid of this uneasy bubbling in my stomach.

"Five more minutes. Come on, there's a broom closet RIGHT over there." I said, and started pulling his arm in that direction. He chuckled.

"Now you KNOW how much I'd love to spend the whole day with you. Hell, I'd love to spend the WEEKEND with you. But I can't. And you need to get in there and get some food, and I have things to do today."

"Like what?"

"Like telling Snape where he can stuff Voldemort's task." I laughed.

"Okay then, I'll see you later? Tonight, maybe?" I said, suggestively.

"Talia Jackson, what has gotten into you today?"

"Okay, here's the thing. I know you promised to let go of the task and everything, and that's great. But for some reason, my Super Siren Senses are tingling. I feel like terrible things are about to start happening." I said, speaking my mind.

"Your Super Siren Senses? Is that all?"

"Yes. Well, and also I'm really horny." He laughed.

"Talia, nothing is going to happen, okay?" He grabbed my face so I could look at him.

"How can you be sure?" He thought about it.

"I can't. But I CAN be sure that I will protect you with my life. No matter what." I nodded, we kissed one last time, and I left him to go into the Great Hall.

I looked for my friends, but I should've known they'd be in our usual spot. And also as usual, Hermione was reading the latest edition of The Daily Prophet, Harry was reading his Potions book, and Ginny was talking to Ron.

"RON!" I said, and ran up to hug him. I ended up nearly knocking him onto the table.

"Whoa, Talia, too much loving. You DO remember we hung out yesterday, right?" He said, grabbing me.

"I'm sorry, I was just so worried about you! I can't believe you were poisoned!"

"Well, seeing as how you were there when it happened, you should probably believe it."

"Ha ha, you're so hilarious." And I sat down to get some food. Pretty soon, it started to snow, but just above Ron. And then I noticed him looking over at Lavender.

"Stop it Ron, you're making it snow!" I said to him.

"Huh?" And he looked at us. "Remind me again how I broke up with Lavender?" He looked at all of us in turn, waiting for an answer, but it was Hermione who gave it to him.

"Well, she came to see you in the Hospital Wing, you see, and you guys talked. I don't believe it was a particularly long conversation." She looked like she was holding back a smile.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm bloody thrilled to be shot of her. It's just, she seems… a bit put out." And we all looked over at her, and she glared at us in return.

"She does, doesn't she? I feel like she could break that fork in half right now." I said, and Harry and Ginny laughed, but Hermione pressed on a bit more.

"And you say you don't remember a thing from that night? Not one thing?" Ron thought about it.

"Well, there is… something." Hermione's face lit up at these words, and I thought that what we had been waiting for for years would finally happen. "But no, it can't be. I mean, I was completely boggled, wasn't I?"

"Right. Boggled." She said, her face falling. I put my hand on her arm, trying to comfort her. Poor Hermione, it wasn't her fault she was in love with a complete wanker. Harry and Ron, completely oblivious as usual, went back to their food. Boys. I was just about to suggest me and Hermione and Ginny go back up to the common room, when there was a slight commotion at the end of the table.

"Harry, its Katie Bell." Hermione said.

"Finally out of the hospital." I said, glancing over at her. Harry got up to go talk to her, and Ron stuffed his face some more, so I took my chance. I turned to the girls.

"Guys, let's go back to the common room. I think we need to talk." I said, looking at Hermione. She smiled, but a weak one. I grabbed her hand, and Ginny grabbed the other one, and we went back up to the room.

"You guys, it's really okay. I swear." Hermione said, once we were there.

"You really shouldn't swear, Hermione." I said, which made her laugh.

"You two swear all the time! It's like a second language or something!"

"Well, yeah, but YOU shouldn't. It doesn't sound right coming from you." Ginny said.

"Yeah, Ginny and I grew up with six brothers. Swearing is a given. You're too sweet to let it soil your mouth." I said. We started talking about various things, like how stupid Ron is, and then he walked through the portrait hole.

"Well, speak of the devil." I said.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing. Where's Harry?"

"I don't know. He left before I did, after talking to Katie, so I assumed he came up here."

"I guess not." The three of us we're looking anywhere but him, and he seemed to notice.

"What's with you guys?"

"Oh, nothing Ronald. Just… nothing." Ginny said, which made him look even more confused.

"Weirdo girls." He mumbled to himself.

"Stupid git." I mumbled to myself, and he sat down.

"So, what are we talking about?" He said after a few, awkward seconds.

"WE, as in all of us, aren't talking about anything. WE, as in us three," I said, gesturing to Ginny, Hermione, and I, "were talking about how stupid, and arrogant, and ignorant, and completely thick you—"

"I need your help, you guys!" Harry said, rushing into them room, interrupting me. Probably a good thing.

"With what?" I said.

"I have to get rid of this book. Hide it. Somewhere no one will ever find it. This is bad, really bad."

"Whoa, slow down, mate." Ron said. "What happened?" Harry looked sheepish.

"Well, you know how you guys told me that that book is dangerous, and it could get someone hurt?" We nodded. "Well, you were right. I used that spell on someone, and I think I may have almost killed them. Snape showed up, and I ran for it. But I need to get rid of this book, just in case. Snape was eyeing it very strangely."

"Shit, are you serious?" I said.

"Yeah, completely serious. I screwed up, you guys, and I don't know what to do, he's really hurt—"

"Wait, 'he'? Who is it?"

"—and I know I hate him, but I didn't want to injure him like that—"

"Who was it Harry?" I said, starting to panic, but no one was listening.

"Don't worry, Harry, I know where we can hide it." Said Ginny.

"Harry, tell me who you hurt. Now." I said, and he looked at me.

"Draco Malfoy."

My world fell apart. Ginny started pulling Harry toward the portrait hole, but she was looking at me with concern. Hermione was also looking at me, also concerned, and I suddenly realized that I was frozen. I was staring at the spot where Harry had been a few seconds ago. Right when the portrait hole closed, Hermione spoke to me.

"You have to go." I nodded, and then ran for my life. But not before I heard Ron ask "Where's she off to?" and Hermione scoff at him.

I couldn't breathe. I could hardly even see where I was going; I just knew that my feet knew where to take me. My mind was too busy worrying about if he was okay. If he wasn't, if he was dead, I didn't know what I would do. Why did Harry have to be so stupid? I couldn't lose Draco, I just couldn't. I hadn't loved this much since Kayla. I hadn't smiled or laughed this much since Kayla. He made me happier than I'd ever been, even before Kayla died and my parents were taken. I COULDN'T lose him. He was my life, now. I dashed down the stairs, taking them three at a time, not even noticing the throbbing pain in my foot. It didn't even compare to the fear I was feeling.

I didn't even pause when I wrenched open the doors to the Hospital. There weren't any other patients in the room, but the curtains were still drawn around his bed. I ran over to them, ripped them open, and almost died of relief when I saw his eyes open.

"Oh, Draco." And I ran to his bed and smothered him with myself. "I thought Harry had killed you! I was so worried, and I ran all the way over here, and I think I may have sprained my ankle, and I TOLD Harry he needed to be careful but he didn't listen and I think I might kill him…"

"Slow down, Talia. I'm okay, see? I'm even mostly in one piece." He said, grabbing one of my hands.

"That's not even funny, Malfoy." I said, and then we kissed. It was a very deep, passionate kiss, the kind that should be private. I didn't realize that it wasn't until someone cleared their throat.

"Excuse me." Professor Snape said, and I jumped out of bed and straightened my rumpled clothes.

"Professor! I didn't see you there! We were just… um…"

"I think I understand what that was, miss Jackson. It appears Mr. Malfoy hasn't been completely honest with me."

"I can explain…" Draco started, but Snape held up his hand, silencing us both.

"No explanation necessary, Draco. I have no objection to this. I shall leave you two alone, now." And he walked out, drawing the curtains again as he left.

"Wow. That was SO not the reaction I was expecting from him." I said, crawling back into his bed, right next to him.

"I'm not surprised, actually. He's pretty cool, underneath all that grease and black clothes." I laughed so hard that I snorted, which made him laugh, which made him wince and clutch his side.

"Are you okay? How bad is it? How long do you have to stay in here? And what method do you think I should use when I murder Harry? Because I'm considering a chainsaw…" He chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Snape got there in time to make sure of that. I'll be good as new before you know it. I'll only have to stay the rest of today in here, and then spend the next few nights here for observation or something. And NO, I don't want you to murder Harry. While I'm not overly fond of the slits he put in my body, you two should stay friends."

"Well, if you say so." I turned my face away real quick so I could wipe a tear away that had escaped, but he caught it.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay. I promise." I tried to smile, but sniffled a little bit.

"I know. But Harry rushed into the room, and said he thought he might have killed you, and I panicked. I don't know what I'd do if you had died. In his defense, he seemed genuinely worried about you."

"That's surprising."

"No it isn't. Harry's a really good guy."

"Yeah, I guess he is. I'm sorry I've been just an ass to him." And I started to cry a little bit more.

"Son of a bitch, I hate crying. Before this year, I only ever let Fred see me cry. But now it's like I'm giving out free shows to everyone." I said. I shifted, which made me remember my ankle. I cried out a little bit, grabbing it.

"We should get Madame Pomfrey to look at your foot. Madame Pomfrey?" He called to her, and she immediately appeared. But when she saw us, together, in bed, she paused.

"Well this is something I didn't expect. I can't even count how many times you two have been in here BECAUSE of each other."

"Can you please look at my ankle, Madame Pomfrey? I think I sprained it."

"Of course. Anything for my favorite patient." She smiled at me. "And please call me Poppy, my dear; you know your mother was one of my best friends."

"Of course. Sorry, Poppy." She fumbled with my ankle for a few seconds, but didn't seem too concerned.

"Well, you did sprain it. But lucky for you, I can have it as good as new in just a few minutes. Just hold on a second…" She left, and then came back two seconds later with a bottle in her hand. "Just drink this, and then you can go whenever you want. Unless you want to stay?" She said, looking at Draco. I smiled.

"I think I'll stay for a while, thanks." And she left.

"Everybody loves you." Draco said, probably a little jealous.

"Well, my parents were very popular when they were here. They were wonderful people, and everyone loved them. Not to mention they were in Dumbledore's Army back in the stone ages."

"They seemed like great people."

"They were. ARE." I said, correcting myself.

"What do you mean? I thought…"

"That they're dead? Everyone else does. But I don't."

"Interesting."

"Aren't you gonna give me some shit about how 'the chances of them still being alive are really low' like everyone else?"

"No. If you believe they're alive, I believe you."

"I love you."

"I know." And we kissed. And we talked some more, and at one point I left to get us some food and water. When I got back, I saw that Blaise was there, talking to Draco, and we all had a good time teasing each other. And the whole time, I thanked God that he hadn't taken Draco away from me.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Liquid Luck**

That evening, after I left him to sleep, I ran into Harry and Ron, in a rush.

"Where's the fire, guys?" and Ron grabbed my hand.

"Come on, Harry's going to get that memory!"

"Brilliant!"

We ran up to the common room, and I think I may have knocked a few people over. Oops. Thankfully Hermione was already there, so we didn't have to search for her. We all sat down, and Harry pulled out his little bottle of Felix Felicis.

"Harry, you're a genius!" I laughed, and Hermione laughed with me. Harry pulled the stopper out of the bottle, and without a word, drank the whole thing. I felt just a tiny, little pang of envy. I knew how bad Draco wanted that bottle. But it passed, and I was back to being excited.

"How do you feel?" I asked him. Slowly, he smiled.

"Excellent. Really excellent." Actually, he looked a bit drunk, to be honest.

"Now, remember. Slughorn usually eats early, takes a walk, and then returns to his office." Hermione said, having been studying his routines for a few weeks now.

"Right." He got up. "I'm going to Hagrid's." I looked at Hermione, confused, and could tell she felt the same.

"What? No, Harry, you've got to go to Slughorn's." Hermione said.

"We have a plan!" I said, but he didn't want to listen.

"No, I've got a good feeling about Hagrid's. I feel like it's the place to be, tonight. Know what I mean?"

"No." We all said together.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing. Or, at least, Felix does!" And he left.

"Hi!" He said to a couple people coming through the portrait hole. They looked a bit frightened.

"Should we follow him?" I asked them both. Ron looked like he thought it was a good idea.

"No, I think we should trust the Liquid Luck."

"Whatever you say, Hermione."

"I'm gonna go to bed now, you guys. 'Night." Ron said, and since I wasn't sure if I should still shun him, I went for the casual approach.

"'Kay, 'night." And he went to bed. Hermione smiled sheepishly.

"You know, you don't have to be so cold to him. He's your family." I put my hand on her shoulder.

"You're family too, Hermione." Just then, Ginny burst through the door, and made sure we were alone.

"Talia! Is Malfoy okay? I was so worried he was dead and—" But I cut her off

"He's fine, Ginny. He has to spend the night in the hospital for the next week, just in case, but he'll be good as new in no time. Thanks."

"No problem." And then she smiled big.

"Ginny, what's with the Cheshire Cat smile?"

"The what smile?" She asked. Loser.

"The really huge, creepy smile."

"It's not creepy, it's happy."

"Why are you so happy?" Hermione said, as intrigued as I was. Ginny smiled even bigger.

"I kissed Harry."

"HOLY SHIT!" I yelled, and Hermione started to squeal.

"I know! And he KISSED ME BACK!"

"Ginny! That's wonderful!" Hermione said.

"Yeah, at least Harry grew a pair, instead of just being a stupid toss pot like someone else we know." And I looked over at the staircase that Ron had just gone up.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry my brother is being such an asshole." Ginny said, and I scoffed.

"Forget asshole. He's being an Assbutt." I said, and they looked at me with funny faces. Draco and Blaise would've gotten that reference.

"You guys, he's just being a little ignorant, that's all. Honestly, I'm fine." Hermione said.

"You know, it's funny how much I DON'T believe you." I said, and Ginny nodded.

"Me too." And Hermione looked relieved.

"I guess it's a good thing I can't lie to you guys." She said.

"Hey, at least he's not with that bitch anymore." Ginny said.

"Fo sho!" I shouted, which made them laugh.

After a while, Ron came back down, in his pajamas, looking a little groggy.

"Why isn't harry back yet? He's been gone for hours!" He said, exaggerating. Just then, Harry walked into the room.

"I've been gone for an hour and a half, Ron. Calm yourself."

"But the potion was only supposed to work for an hour."

"It did, and then I went to Dumbledore right away." He said, sitting down on the couch.

"Does that mean you got the memory?" I said, getting excited.

"I sure did. And you'll never guess what we found out."

"What is it?" Ginny said, for the first time since Harry got here. The look those two shared was priceless. Then Harry looked at the rest of us, and said one word.

"Horcruxes." We were all confused, but Hermione took in a short gasp that meant she knew EXACTLY what he was talking about. As usual.

"What are Horcruxes?" I said. Hermione didn't want to answer, so Harry did for her.

"It's a type of… magical object, I guess. Well, it can be any sort of object, if you want. Like a portkey, you put the magic into it."

"What kind of magic?" I asked.

"Well, basically, you put a part of your soul into an object, so your body becomes immortal."

"Wicked." Ron said, and I slapped him in the back of the head.

"Not wicked, Ronald, that means that Voldemort is immortal!"

"Oh. Is that what's up with Hermione, then?" And then Hermione spoke.

"No. Don't get me wrong, Voldemort being immortal is a very bad thing. But that's not why I'm scared." Harry took over for her.

"In order to put a piece of your soul into a horcrux, you have to kill. Murder." And we all fell silent. I was the one who asked the question that was on all our minds.

"How many horcruxes are there, Harry?"

"Seven."

"Oh God." Hermione whispered.

"Well, actually, there WERE seven. But two have already been destroyed, so there's only five left."

"Aw, look who's good at math." I said, trying to lighten the situation. It didn't work. "Hey, at least we only have to take care of the last five!" I said.

"Forgive me if I'm not as excited as you are, Talia." Hermione said.

"Hey now, Talia's right! We have to look at the important things. And listen to this, Dumbledore thinks he found another one, so we're going there tomorrow after class. So that means we'll only have four more to go!"

"HOORAH!" I yelled, and everybody laughed. Well, except for Ginny. Actually, Ginny seemed to be thinking very hard about something. "What's up, Ginny?" She didn't answer me. Instead, she got up, and looked at Harry. And then Ron. And then Hermione and I, and then back at Harry.

"I want to tell him."

"What! Right now?" Harry said, looking nervous.

"Yes, right now."

"Tell me what?" Ron said, with a weird, vacant look on his face. Ginny grabbed Harry by the shirt, dragging him up, and planting a huge, wet one on him.

"That."

"Wh… what?" He said, standing up.

"Yeah, that's right, Ron! I just kissed Harry Potter, your best friend! How do you feel about that?" and she stormed up to her room. And then Harry, looking a little scared, also left without a word. Ron looked at Hermione and I.

"Well, I was just going to say that while it was a little weird watching them snog just then, I'm actually pretty cool with it." And I looked at Hermione, and we all laughed. And when Ron went upstairs, I got up.

"I think I'm gonna go sneak in bed with Malfoy. Those hospital beds aren't very comfy, speaking from experience, and I want to be there when he wakes up."

"Alright!" Hermione said, and we went up to our room. I grabbed some jammies, and left. But not before laughing at Ginny a little bit.


	20. Chapter 20

**The Many Warnings**

Draco POV

I awoke in the middle of the night with a start. Those stupid hospital beds weren't the greatest. The only reason I was able to sleep was probably that Talia was there. She must have snuck in here after I fell asleep. I smiled down at her. Ever since I promised her that I wouldn't kill Dumbledore, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Well, actually, it was more like an anvil had been taken out of my stomach.

And when Harry defeated The Dark Lord, Talia and I could finally be together. REALLY together. Maybe even forever. She gave me confidence I'd never felt before. I looked down at her, while she was sleeping, with her mouth open, and I pulled her close. I always felt this burning need to protect her when I was with her, even though I KNEW she could handle herself just fine. Just as I was drifting back to sleep, I heard someone speak.

"Mr. Malfoy."

I looked up, and even though it was dark in this room due to the lack of moonlight coming through the window, the dark silhouette was hard to mistake.

"What is it, Professor Snape?" I said, with a little more snark in my voice than was necessary.

"We need to discuss this… situation." He said, and waved a hand toward Talia. That sparked a little bit of annoyance.

"What about her?"

"This relationship is most inappropriate."

"What, because she's a Gryffindor? Because she's friends with Potter? I don't think so."

"You need to understand the circumstances."

"No, _you _need to understand the circumstances. I love her, alright?"

"You love her?"

"Yes?"

"Well then that makes things even worse."

"How can this be bad, Snape? Tell me? She's changing me. She made me realize—"

"Realize what, Draco?" Crap. Now I'd have to tell him. I sighed, and looked him straight in the eye.

"I'm not doing this task. I'm NOT killing Dumbledore." And then Snape went quiet, as if deep in thought. And then after a while, his face softened a little.

"Draco, you know I'm just concerned for your safety, right?"

"I… suppose."

"So don't get mad at me when I say that this girl makes not completing this task impossible for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"The consequences are very severe, and very specific. If Dumbledore doesn't die, you and your family will."

"You don't think I know that? That I've considered all that?"

"Of course you have. But have you considered where Talia lies in all of this?" That surprised me.

"What?" I said. Well, it was more of a choking noise, as I was not fully able to collect my voice at that moment.

"Miss Jackson changes everything, Mr. Malfoy. Before it was just your family you could lose. But if you care for her as much as you say you do, her life is also at stake now."

"I… didn't think of that." I said. I was such an idiot.

"Yes, well, maybe you should before you make any more decisions." He said. I nodded, and he walked out, taking my confidence from earlier with him.

Talia POV

I woke up to sun shining on my face. It looked like a beautiful morning. I felt a bit of moisture on my face, and looked up to see Draco already awake. His face looked wet.

"Hey, are you okay?" I said, sitting up so we could see each other better. "Have you been crying?"

"What? No, of course not. I just yawned, and it made my eyes water. That's all."

"Oh, okay. Did you sleep well? These beds aren't very comfortable, and you don't have a sexy guy to cuddle with." I said, smiling, trying to lighten his mood. The corner of his mouth quirked just a little bit.

"True, but I DO have a sexy girl to hold." Success.

"True, AND you only have to spend a few nights in here. How should we celebrate once you're all better?"

"You mean, how should we celebrate us both having strong, healthy bodies? I can think of a few ways…"

"You're speaking my language, Mr. Malfoy. Come on, we should get dressed. Classes are probably starting soon, and I don't want to miss writing to you in our special notebooks instead of actually paying attention." I said, and we got dressed and left. But as I watched him walk away, I couldn't help but notice how distracted he seemed. It was just like before… but no. He wouldn't, he promised. And I had complete confidence in him.

….

"Talia, you don't look so good." Hermione said. She was very observant.

"I don't feel good, either. My head is pounding." I said, clutching an ice bag to my head. We were in potions class, trying to brew some potion that does… something. I couldn't think at the moment.

"Wait, you have a headache? But… that only happens when—"

"When something horrible is about to happen, yeah. OR when I have a hangover, but that's not the case this time. God, I hate being psychic."

"Talia, this is serious. Do you think something is going to happen?"

"Well, maybe. I've had false alarms before, but this is worse than usual. Maybe I'm just stressed."

"Well, okay, but you should tell Harry. He's going on that trip with Dumbledore tonight."

"Yeah, I will." After a few more minutes of trying to read my potions book, I decided to give up and accept the bad grade. I'd make up for it by doing awesome on the next potion. I put my stirring stick down and rested my head in my hands. I hadn't had a headache this bad since fourth year, when Voldemort came back to life. This was bad. I was about to close my eyes to block out the light coming from the lamps, when I saw some writing appear on my notebook. Draco.

_Are you okay? You look like you're feeling awful._

_I am feeling awful. I have this headache, and it's horrible. I don't know what to do, and I can't concentrate on anything._

_I noticed. Maybe you should go to the hospital wing?_

_No, there's nothing Madame Pomfrey can do. This is a psychic headache._

_That doesn't sound good._

_It isn't. I think it means something terrible is going to happen, and soon._ He took a little time to write back, and if my head didn't hurt so much, I would have lifted my head to look at him. When he did write back, it was strange.

_Everything's going to be okay. I promise._

_Are YOU okay? You've seemed so nervous all day. You wanna ditch class and go somewhere?_

_I'm good. But you should go lie down or something, your face is starting to lose color._

_Crap. That's gonna make my make-up look like shit._

_You look beautiful._ That made me smile.

_I love you._ I wrote.

_I love you too._ More than anything. He wrote, so I decided to look up so I could smile at him. I did, and he smiled back, but in a sad sort of way. I wished he would just tell me what was bothering him.

"Hey Tal, Hermione said you needed to tell me something." Harry said. I looked at him, closing my notebook so he couldn't read our conversation.

"I just wanted to tell you to be careful tonight. I'm having this massive headache."

"Crap. I know what that means." I nodded.

"Yeah, and this is worse than usual. This is just like the one I got right before Voldemort returned." I turned to Ron, because he had thrown his usual complaint about using Voldemort's name. "Oh get off, Ron." Back to Harry, "Just be careful, okay? It's bad enough that you're my best friend, but now you're my other best friend's boyfriend. Not to mention my best friend/brother's best friend… and another one of my best friend's best friend… and I'm gonna put my head down now because I'm starting to babble."

"You're a really great person, you know that?"

"Well, it's not the first time someone's mentioned it." He chuckled and walked away, right after tousling my hair. Gently, because he knew what's good for him. I looked back to my notebook, because there was something I needed to confess to someone.

_I'm scared. And I don't know why._

_I know. _And then class was over, so I decided to skip the rest of the day and go lay down in the hospital. It was getting really bad, and I didn't know what else to do.

I was walking, slowly, down a hallway when I ran into Blaise.

"Hey, Tal, what's—Shit, what's wrong with your eyes?" He said, so I ran into the nearest bathroom. When I looked into the mirror, I saw that my eyes were glowing green once again. Great. I concentrated really hard, and the green faded. I plastered a fake smile on my face, and walked back out to Blaise.

"Oh, I guess it was just the light." He said.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Where are you heading?"

"The hospital wing. My head hurts."

"Ouch, sorry about that. Want me to walk you?"

"Well, sure." We walked in silence for a few minutes, and then he decided to break it.

"So, how are things with Malfoy going?"

"What, you guys don't talk about it?"

"No, except for how hot your ass is." I slugged him in the arm. "Just kidding!"

"We talk about YOU, actually." I said to him. He looked surprised.

"I'm not gonna lie, that makes me a bit nervous."

"It's not bad. We just talked about him growing up, and how you and your family were a big help. He even told me about his guitar collection."

"Wow, he told you that? He must really care about you."

"Yeah." I said, and then my vision started to go fuzzy for a second, and the next thing I knew was I was being held up by Blaise. "Thanks."

"You sure it's just a headache? You really don't look so good."

"I just need to get to the hospital and lay down, honest."

"Okay, if you say so." And he half-carried me the whole way to the hospital. As he sat me down on the bed and covered me with a blanket, I felt a little pang of guilt.

"Blaise, I'm so sorry I hurt you." He smiled.

"You didn't hurt me. Well, I was a little hurt for, like, a second, but then I realized that you're REALLY good for Malfoy. He's so much better with you." And then I smiled.

"Thanks, Blaise. That means a lot to me." He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "And don't worry, I know you'll find someone, someday, that makes YOU better." He had started walking away, but then he turned back.

"Yeah, maybe. And hey, if things don't work out with Malfoy, you know where to find me." He said, jokingly, and winked. I laughed.

"Oh, of course!" I said back to him. He laughed and drew the curtains. And then I heard the doors open, and a familiar voice say, "What are you doing here, Zabini?" in a not so nice tone.

"Chill, Weasley. I ran into your friend Jackson on her way up here, and she wasn't doing so good, so I helped her up here." Dear God, Ron.

"That was very nice of you, Blaise, thank you." Said Hermione. "Is that her over there?"

"Yeah." And he left. A few seconds later, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all walked through the curtains.

"How you doin', Tal?" Ginny asked me.

"Yeah, can we get you anything?" Harry asked.

"Bloody hell, people, you'd think my dog died or something. It's just a headache."

"Yeah, but it's a 'special' headache." Hermione said, air quoting.

"Yeah, which means YOU people should be worrying about yourselves. Especially you, Harry, these dumb headaches are usually about you."

"Speaking of, do you still have my cloak?" Harry asked.

"No, actually, I gave it to Crabbe and Goyle so they could watch girls in the bathrooms."

"So it's in your trunk, then?"

"Yeah."

"I'll grab it later."

"So, what do you think is going to happen? And when?" Ron asked.

"I don't know. These things aren't usually very specific, but I can tell some serious shit is going to go down SOON. Very soon." I looked pointedly at Harry. "Watch your back later, okay? We need our Chosen One." I said, patting his hand.

"I will. This isn't exactly our first disaster, right?" He said, and we all smiled.

"Yeah, a year at Hogwarts without some serious shit just isn't right." Ron said, and then we all started laughing. I thought about telling the guys about Draco. We were having such a nice, laid back conversation, and I thought it was now or never. And I wanted it to be NOW. But then Harry had to go and open his big, fat, Chosen One mouth.

"I bet it has something to do with Malfoy." He said, and everyone sighed in exasperation. Well, except for me.

"Seriously, mate, just give it a rest." Ron said.

"I have a really bad feeling about him! He's been too… quiet. Haven't you noticed?"

"Actually, yeah, I have. He used to make fun of at least one of us at least once a day. But this year: Nothing."

"Exactly!"

"You guys, maybe he just has a lot on his mind." They both looked at me like I was out of my mind. I guess it was never. Hermione saw the look on my face, and changed the subject.

"Ginny, where did you and Harry end up hiding that book?"

"The Room of Requirement."

"Ah, brilliant. Now no one will ever find it."

"Exactly why I hid it there." Then the guys started talking about their essay for Charms class, and Hermione and Ginny each grabbed one of my hands. I had the best friends in the world. I mouthed "Thank you" at them, and they smiled at me. And then I accidentally let out a damn tear, and Ron noticed.

"Talia, you okay?"

"Why are you crying?" Asked Harry.

"My… headache. It just still hurts, that's all. Normal healing potions never really work on these ones."

"Oh, we're sorry. All our jabbering can't be helping much. You want us to go?"

"Yes, but only because I don't want you all to fail your classes just because your best friend is in the hospital for a puny headache. Especially you, Ginny. Don't you have your O.W.L.s coming up?"

"Yes, and I'm more than prepared for them." She said, but they still got up anyway. They all hugged me, and then started to leave.

"Hey, Harry?" I said before they left. Harry turned to me.

"Yeah?"

"Can you stop by here once you get back tonight? I just want to make sure you're okay. I don't care how late it is." He smiled.

"You got it."

"Thanks. Oh, and Hermione? When you get a chance, can you bring me the book that's on my nightstand?"

"Of course. I'll bring it when we all come see you for lunch."

….

After they came and ate lunch with me, I started reading my book, and couldn't put it down. So you can imagine my surprise when I looked at the time, which said it was almost dinner time. I had spent five and a half hours reading! Just as I was about to put it down and start settling in, I heard the door open again. I had TOLD them to not come see me for supper, but did they listen? Of course not. But when the curtain was pulled back, it wasn't my friends. It was Draco. My face lit up.

"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here until curfew, which isn't for another three hours." I said to him. He grabbed his chest in mock devastation.

"I'm hurt that you don't want me here." I smiled and scooted over so he could join me. He kicked off his shoes, took off his robe, and slipped under the blanket.

"I do want you here." I said. He chuckled.

"I know." He opened his arms so I could come closer. "Actually, Blaise came and talked to me right after he brought you here. Said you might need me. I would've come sooner, but every time I headed up here, I saw your friends coming up here too."

"That's okay. This is nice." I sighed and closed my eyes. "I was actually just a second away from telling them everything about us earlier." I had a feeling his eyes widened.

"Really? What stopped you?"

"Just before I opened my stupid mouth, Harry jumped in about how he thinks my headache has something to do with you. It made me realize that they might never be able to accept this." He had suddenly gone very tense. "What is it?"

"Listen, there's something I have to tell you."

"Oh God. My least favorite words. Well, right after 'He's back'." He didn't answer right away. Maybe he was thinking of how to put his words. "Come on, what is it?"

"I… I think you're wrong about your friends. I mean, if they're REALLY good friends like you say they are, they should accept whomever you want to be with. No matter what."

"Maybe you're right. But I STILL think it's gonna be a while."

"I'll have to agree with you on that." I snuggled close.

"I'm glad that you're here. It's nice to know that when, IF, something bad happens, you'll be here to protect me." Again, the stiffness. What was with him? "Hey, let's get some sleep, alright? Maybe it will help this throbbing pain in my skull." I took my clothes off, because I didn't have pajamas with me, and I was starting to get a little warm.

"Well then, sleep we must!"


	21. Chapter 21

**The Invasion of the Death Eaters**

I woke up in the middle of the night to the noise of something being knocked over. Still half asleep, I moved my arm to the spot where Draco was. It was empty. I opened my eyes to see him making his way toward the doors.

"Hey." I said, which startled him a little.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"That's okay. Where are you going?"

"I just need to go to the bathroom. Go back to sleep, okay? I'll be back soon."

"Oh, okay." I closed my eyes, and listened to him leave. And then I shot up, now fully awake. If he had to go to the bathroom, why didn't he use the one in here? And WHY did he have to get fully dressed? He lied to me, didn't he?

I couldn't believe him. He KNEW he didn't have to lie to me about anything. Unless… it was something SO bad he felt he did. I quickly got up and dressed, because I didn't want to walk around Hogwarts in my bra and underwear, and quietly opened the door. I was just in time to see Draco turn a corner ahead, so I snuck out and followed him. Where the hell was he going?

I was moving very quietly, since I didn't want him to know I was there, when I accidentally smacked my elbow on something. I cried out, and Draco must have heard me, because he paused. I covered my mouth and ran back behind the corner. When I heard his footsteps start moving again, I started following them again.

I was getting really nervous by then. If Draco had lied to me about going to sleep in his own bed, or meeting up with Blaise or something, that would've been fine. But he was going up, not down towards the dungeons. I followed him up more stairs, and down more corridors, until I was startled with the horrible truth. He was going to the Room of Requirement. To the Vanishing Cabinet. He was going to let the Death Eaters into Hogwarts.

Was I a fool? Was all this fake? All the secret dates, and the 'I Love you's, were they all just for fun? Or maybe it was the sex. He just needed a distraction, that was all.

No. It wasn't fake. He might have lied to me about this task, but I KNEW he loved me. I could feel it. And I had believed him when he said he wouldn't do this. So maybe something had changed his mind. I watched him enter the room, not daring to follow him in. A few minutes later, more people came out. Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, a couple others I didn't recognize, and Fenrir Greyback. I stayed out of sight, not wanting him to see me. He scared me too much. They all left, and then Draco came out, looking awful. Guilty. I chose to follow him instead of the others. He was going up again. What the heck was this high, besides the Gryffindor common room? And I KNEW he wasn't going there.

And then I had it. He was going to the Astronomy Tower. But why? What was up there? I followed him up the stairs, and I heard talking. It sounded like… Dumbledore! And Harry! Draco went up to the top, but I stopped when I saw Harry hiding below. He looked surprised to see me, and put his finger to his mouth, silencing me. I gave him a look that said, "You think?" And we went back to listening.

"Good evening, Draco. What brings you out on such a fine, spring evening?" Dumbledore said, casually, as if Draco WASN'T standing there with his wand pointing at him.

"Who else is here? I heard you talking." Draco said.

"I often talk to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful. That which sounds sane at a whisper can seem utterly mad when said for all the world to hear. Haven't been whispering to yourself, have you, Draco?" Dumbledore said, looking down towards where I was. He knew I was there, and he also knew Draco and I had been seeing each other. How was this man such a genius? Draco's hand started to shake, and I longed to run up and hug him. "You are not an assassin, Draco."

"How do you know what I am? I've done things that would shock you."

"Like cursing Katie Bell and hoping that she would, in turn, bear a cursed necklace to me? Like replacing a bottle of mead with one laced with poison? Forgive me, Draco, but these attempts are so feeble I can't help but think you're heart hasn't really been in them. I'm curious, Draco. When Voldemort gave you this task, was it in a whisper?"

"He trusts me! I was chosen!" And he pulled up his sleeve, revealing his Dark Mark. I looked over at Harry, who looked triumphant. I started to tear up, feeling something inside me ripping.

"Then I will make it easier for you." And Dumbledore held up his hands in surrender. Was he crazy?

"Expelliarmus!" Draco said, disarming Dumbledore.

"Well done, Draco, but I warn you. Killing is not nearly as easy."

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned to see Bellatrix smiling in my face. I almost yelled for Harry to run, but she clapped a hand over my mouth, keeping me quiet. She turned me back around so we could watch Draco and Dumbledore. I glanced over to where Harry was hiding behind a pillar. He was raising his wand towards Bellatrix, but I slightly raised my hand telling him to stop. He was way more valuable than me, and I didn't want him to get captured too. He didn't stop, so I started struggling, just so Bellatrix would put her wand to my neck. Take that, Harry. I gave him one last, meaningful look, and he lowered his wand.

"You're not alone, are you? There are others. How?" Dumbledore asked Draco.

"The vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirements."

"That cabinet has been broken for years."

"I've been mending it."

"Ingenious! Let me guess, it has a sister. A twin."

"In Borgin and Burkes. They form a passage."

"Very good. I once knew a boy years ago, who made all the wrong choices. Let me help you, Draco."

"I don't want you're help! Don't you understand? I have to do this! I have to kill you!" And then he added in a whisper, "Or he'll kill her." I don't think anyone but me and Dumbledore heard him. That's when I started to cry. So that was why he was doing this.

"Say that again Draco, but louder this time." I watched Draco, and saw him start to lower his wand. That's when Bellatrix decided to move. With a wave of her wand, she gagged me and bound my hands, and then dragged me up there by the arm, with the other Death Eaters following. When we got there, my eyes immediately found Draco's. He looked horror struck. I tried to tell him with my eyes how sorry I was, and that I loved him, and I thought he got the message.

"Well now, look what we have here. Dumbledore, wandless and alone. Cornered in his own castle. Well done, Draco." Bellatrix said, sauntering around in her usual insane way.

"Let go of the girl, Bella. She's of no concern to you." Dumbledore said.

"You know what, you're right. She IS of no concern. So maybe I should just KILL her." Bellatrix said, raising her wand. "Avada—"

"Wait." A familiar voice said, and then Greyback stepped up the stairs. He walked slowly towards me. "Don't kill her." I started shaking. I didn't want him to come near me. I looked over at Draco again, and he tried to give me a calm, reassuring look. It didn't work. Greyback came up close to me, brushed my hair aside, and sniffed my neck. "This is the Siren I met at Christmas." Bellatrix looked ecstatic.

"A Siren. My my, The Dark Lord would be delighted to have one…" She said, evil little wheels turning in her head. She lowered her wand, and I had to stifle a sigh of relief.

"Bellatrix, I believe introductions are in order." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the Death Eaters he apparently hadn't met before.

"Love to, Albus. But I'm afraid we're on a bit of a tight schedule. Do it, Draco." He wasn't going to do it. I could see it in his eyes. He might have wanted to protect me, but no matter what, he wasn't a killer.

"He won't do it. Doesn't have the stomach. Let me do it. In my own way." Greyback said, with a twisted smile.

"No! The Dark Lord was clear, the boy's to do it. Go on Draco, now!"

"No." There was no mistaking that voice. Professor Snape. He showed up, and walked over behind Draco.

"Severus." Dumbledore said.

"Well, look who's here. Hogwarts' own Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Come to see the slaughter?" Bellatrix said. Man, she really was bat-shit crazy.

"Severus… please." Dumbledore said. When I looked over at his face, he seemed so at peace. He was looking at Snape with so much understanding. What was going on?

"I gave my word. I made a vow." Snape said. Oh God.

And then there was this intense silence. I looked at the horror on both Harry's and Draco's faces, and then at the look on Snape's face. And then he raised his wand and said words that I never expected.

"Avada Kedavra."

I screamed. I screamed so hard, the cloth that was gagging me came off. And I kept screaming, so Bellatrix shot the Cruciatus Curse at me. It hurt more than anything had ever hurt in my life. And then she dropped me to the ground, so she could shoot the Dark Mark into the sky. I felt someone grab me, and looked up to see Draco supporting me. I grabbed his arm, and watched our Headmaster fall to the courtyard below. I felt like all our hope was gone. How could Dumbledore be dead? He was the most powerful wizard alive. Even Voldemort feared him.

I was pulled up, and we started heading down the stairs. I knew my feet were moving, felt someone pulling my arm, but everything else was blank. I was numb. But then I felt cold air hit me, and my senses came back. We were outside. I tripped over a rock and fell to my knees. I saw Greyback start to come to get me up, but Draco beat him to it. And then we started moving again, and Draco was being much gentler than my last captor.

"Draco," I whispered.

"Shh, don't let them hear you." He whispered back.

"Draco, I'm so scared."

"I know. I'm so sorry you got involved in this. I'll take care of you, I promise." We were at Hagrid's hut now.

"Snape!" We heard Harry shouting. Draco and I stopped and turned around to see him running towards Snape, wand upraised, fury rising. Snape turned to us.

"Go on." He said, and Draco started to pull me. I didn't move.

"He trusted you!" He started shooting spells at Snape, who deflected them with ease. Deflected, but did not fight back.

"Harry! Harry, get out of here!"

"Go on!" Snape said to us again, more firmly. But I still didn't move.

"Fight back! You coward, fight back!" Harry was still shooting spells at Snape, and Snape was still deflecting. Bellatrix came over to try and do it herself, but Snape pushed her away.

"No! He belongs to the Dark Lord!" She ran away, and I felt a sudden rush of heat on my back. Something was on fire, but I still didn't want to turn away from Harry.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry shouted at Snape, but Snape blocked it, and Harry flew back and landed on his back.

"You dare use my own spell against me?" Snape said to him. Harry looked just as confused as I felt. "Yes. I am the Half Blood Prince." Why was I not surprised? Snape went over to him and kicked his wand away. That's when I decided it was time to move again. We started running, into the Forbidden Forest. Everything was dark, and my mind was a wreck. The only reassurance I had was Draco's hold on me. I didn't know what was going to happen to me, but I felt safe with him. Quickly, while no one was looking, he turned to me.

"Have you ever apparated before?"

"No, I was supposed to take the test this summer."

"We're about to apparate, okay? Be ready, it isn't easy the first—"

"What's going to happen to me, Draco?" He knew I wasn't talking about apparating.

"I don't know. But it will be alright, okay? Trust me." I looked deep into his gorgeous eyes, and knew the answer right away.

"I do."


	22. Chapter 22

**The Ending…**

Hermione POV

I ran around, frantically searching for my friends. Harry should have been back by now, and Talia wasn't in the Hospital wing like she should have been. I ran into Ronald and hugged him.

"What's going on? I can't find anyone, and—"

"You need to come out into the courtyard with me." He said, his face looking solemn.

"What is it? Is Harry out there?"

"Yeah, just come on." And he guided me to the courtyard, where a crowd was gathering. I looked up to the sky where the Dark Mark was floating in the clouds, and gave a little start. Ron put his hand on my shoulder, make me feel safe. When we got to the front of the crowd, where Ginny was, I saw what everyone was gathered for. It was SO not something I was expecting.

Dumbledore was dead.

I silently started to cry, and then looked around for Harry. When I saw him walk up, I was so relieved it hurt. But then I thought about how he must've been feeling. He knelt down beside the lifeless Headmaster, and straightened his hair. I was about to go to him, but then I thought of someone better. I turned to Ginny.

"Go to him, Ginny." She gave one nod, knelt down next to Harry, and pulled him to her. He clung to her as if his life depended on it, and looking up at Ron, I hoped that someday I would have someone like that.

Ron POV

Hermione was so scared. And, frankly, so was I. I put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her, but I wasn't sure if it had worked. I was such a git to her, it wouldn't surprise me if it hadn't. I had a feeling that this was just the beginning of the shit hitting the fan. Later, when everyone went to bed, the four of us lingered a bit so we could talk about what happened.

"They took Talia." Was the first thing Harry said. We all stopped to stare at him.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Bellatrix and the other Death Eaters. Snape. Malfoy. They took her." Ginny covered her hands in her mouth in horror.

"Do you think they'll kill her?" She asked. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but what he said next was the worst possible thing.

"No. It's even worse than that. You guys, they know she's a Siren. Greyback was with them, and he could smell it on her."

"God. They'll torture her." Said Hermione.

"Well, at least until she agrees to help him." Harry said, but I shook my head.

"You know she'll never do that, right? She'd rather die." I said. They all nodded.

"You guys, we have to save her." Said Ginny. Hermione had something else to say.

"Wait a sec, guys. We KNOW Talia would rather us wait and kill Voldemort, first. She'd murder us if she knew we put her first."

"But how can we just leave her there?" I said.

"Well, she does have Malfoy." Ginny said. That was the most surprising thing I'd heard all night. Hermione looked at her warningly, but Ginny didn't care.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, before I had a chance to. Hermione sighed.

"Talia and Malfoy have been… seeing each other." And then Harry and I lost it. It wasn't my proudest moment, yelling and shouting like that, but I couldn't help it. The thought of Talia betraying us like that…

"You guys, it wasn't like that." Ginny said, and Harry and I stopped yelling, though both still furious.

"What do you mean, it wasn't like that? How could she sleep with ANY Slytherin, let alone one who's been giving us crap for the last six years, and I have PROOF now that he's a Death Eater—" Harry was ranting again, but Hermione stopped him with impossible words.

"They're in love. It's not just about sex with them, it never was. She changed him, you guys. Yes, he's a Death Eater. But he would NEVER hurt her; I've seen it in his eyes. You have to believe me. Believe us. Talia loves him. He'll keep her safe." We had no choice but to trust her words. And as much as we didn't like it, they were right. Voldemort HAD to be top priority, Talia would want it this way.

But we WOULD save her. I didn't know how, or when, but we would.

Ginny POV

I couldn't believe Talia was with those people. The things they would do to her if she refused them… and God knew she would. She was too stubborn. After talking some more, we decided to go up to bed. Harry and I walked hand in hand the whole way. I knew that all this stuff that was happening was so awful, but I couldn't help but feel excited that Harry and I were finally together. I had loved Harry for such a long time now. I felt bad for Hermione, though. I knew how much she wanted to be with Ron.

But my excitement didn't last. Before I headed up the stairs to my bed, Harry stopped me. He pulled me into a kiss, a sweet, wonderful kiss, and then looked at me.

"I have to tell you something." He said.

"What is it?"

"I'm leaving during the summer. I have to look for these last horcruxes, and I HAVE to save Talia."

"I understand." He looked momentarily surprised, but recovered pretty quickly.

"Really? Because if Ron and Hermione want to come, you know there's no stopping them. But I can't let you come, it'll be too dangerous."

"It's okay, I get it. Just kill this bastard and bring Talia home." I said, and he smiled.

"You're the best, you know that?"

"Yeah, well." I said, walking away. But then I had a thought. "Hey, Harry? When you guys are on this adventure, can you do something about Ron and Hermione? I'm sick of them being so damn stubborn." He smiled.

"I'll do what I can."

Harry POV

"He wouldn't have done it, you know. Draco." Hermione said. I nodded.

"I know. He was lowering his wand. In the end it was Snape. It was always Snape." I said. I had just stood there, not doing anything. Maybe I could have saved him… and Talia. Now because of me, they're both gone. Hermione came over to me, and studied the locket.

"It's strange. Thinking this is a piece of Voldemort's soul…"

"Yeah, strange. Only, it's not. It's a fake." And I pointed right to it. "Go on, open it." Hermione found the note, and read it out loud.

"'To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.'" She looked up at me. "R.A.B.?"

"I don't know. But whoever they are, they've got the real horcrux. Which means all of this was a waste." Hermione looked away.

"Ron's okay with it, you know. You and Ginny. But if I were you, when he's around, I'd keep the snogging to a minimum." She said, probably trying to lighten the mood. I smiled a little for her sake, but I still didn't feel very light.

"I'm not coming back, Hermione." She nodded.

"We reckoned, Ron and me."

"I have to finish what Dumbledore started. I'm not sure where that will lead me, but I'll let you guys know where I am. When I can." Hermione and Ron shared a look, and then Hermione spoke.

"I've always admired your courage, Harry. But sometimes, you're really thick." I looked at her, faking surprise. I knew it was a long shot, trying to go it alone, but I had to try anyway. "You don't honestly think you can find all these horcruxes by yourself, do you? You need us, Harry." Finally, I smiled.

"Yeah, I do." We walked down and out onto the grounds, taking in the scenery as if for the last time. Hermione must have felt the same way.

"Do you think we'll ever come back?" She asked. I walked up right next to her, and by looking at her face, I could tell she was trying really hard to be strong. I think we all were. I gave her hand a brief squeeze and answered her truthfully.

"I don't know."

Draco POV

None of this was supposed to happen. Talia wasn't supposed to be here. But she was, and what made things worse was that they knew exactly what she was. And it was all my fault. The things they were going to make her do… but of course, she wouldn't. She was so stubborn. It's one of the things I loved about her. Once we reached the end of the boundaries, I fell back a little so we were behind everyone, and turned to her.

"Have you ever apparated before?" I asked her.

"No, I was supposed to take the test this summer." She said, and I could tell how terrified she was.

"We're about to apparate, okay? Be ready, it isn't easy the first—" But she cut me off.

"What's going to happen to me, Draco?" Somehow, I knew she wasn't talking about apparating. I looked into her beautiful, icy blue eyes, and told her the truth.

"I don't know. But it will be alright, okay? Trust me." She answered with such belief that it almost killed me.

"I do."

Talia POV

As we landed, I felt something twist in a very wrong way in my ankle. Why was it always my ankle? Between that, the sudden lurch in my stomach, and the lightheadedness, I could hardly stand on my own. I grabbed on tight to Draco, hoping he would never leave me.

"You okay?" He whispered. I nodded, trying to be strong.

"I think I twisted my ankle again." He gave me a short, brief smile.

"You and that Bloody ankle." And then he put his arm around my waist to help me walk.

"Come along Draco, we need to introduce the Dark Lord to his new guest." Bellatrix shouted from somewhere in front of us. I looked up to see this huge, black gate in front of us. Bella waved her wand, and we were somehow able to walk right through it. And around us were towering walls of bushes, like a maze. As we made our way closer to my prison, I gripped Draco's hand tighter and tighter. And the whole time, under his breath, he was whispering, "It will be okay." And finally we stopped. I looked up to the tall, menacing, black mansion, where I would be spending my captivity.

Malfoy Manor.

**A.N. Dun dun dun! Sorry if it's a crappy ending, I gave up after five minutes of staring at the computer screen. I'll try and get the next one up as soon as possible, so just be patient.**


	23. Chapter 23

**… The Beginning**

Malfoy Manor.

It was so… huge. And dark, and cold, and intimidating.

As I walked along the path to the huge monstrosity of a house, my impending doom seemed to grow and grow with each step. What were they going to do to me? Torture me? Chain me up to a wall and give me almost no food and water and use the cruciatus curse on me until I gave in? Or maybe even worse—make me eat tofu… I shuddered at the thought. I really hated tofu. I noticed how off track my mind was going, so I mentally shook myself.

I felt someone grab my other arm, and felt the biggest pang of fear I'd ever felt. Fenrir Greyback was holding my arm, pulling me along. Apparently Draco wasn't moving fast enough. I looked up to the scruffy, terrifying face of the werewolf I had met on Christmas Eve to see hungry eyes. He was looking at me as if he couldn't wait to get his teeth into me. When he finally looked away from me with an extremely creepy smile on his face, I switched my gaze to a friendlier gaze. I looked into the icy grey-blue eyes of my boyfriend, and my fear faded. But only a little bit.

I tripped over a crack in the walkway, and scraped my knees and hands. My hands were still bound, so I had a hard time getting back up. When someone gently grabbed my hands and helped me up, I assumed it was Draco.

"Thank you. I didn't mean to—" I started, but was cut off.

"That's quite alright, my dear. Tell me, has anyone ever told you how… delicious you look?" Greyback. I cringed, trying to get away from him, when Draco yanked me away.

"Don't lay your hands on her ever again, you filthy wolf." He said. Bellatrix walked back to see what the holdup was.

"That's right, Draco. This lovely creature belongs to the Dark Lord now, and we can't let anyone of… lesser quality be permitted to touch her." She started leading me away from the chuckling werewolf, along with Draco. I looked at Malfoy as we reached the huge front door, and mouthed the words 'Thank you' to him. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, with sincere care. He really cared about me.

"And here we are, home at last." Bellatrix said, as we walked over the threshold. I was immediately greeted by warmer air and the distinct smell of a fire burning in the fireplace. Under any other circumstances, this would have been a beautiful place to live. The tapestries, obviously antiques, were amazing, and the huge swirly staircase was just screaming for me to slide down its banister. I was amazed at how calm my mind was during all this, but I knew that once I was left alone, wherever that might be, that all the fear would break free and I would be an emotional mess.

"Is it done?" I heard the voice come from the living room, where we had somehow made our way too while I was lost in my thoughts. When I looked up, I saw two people that were obviously Draco's parents. One of them, the woman, was strikingly beautiful. She had brown hair with white-blonde streaks right above her ears. She stood tall with authority, as if no one could touch her. I immediately respected her. The man, and obviously where the voice had come from, I had seen before on a few occasions. He used to be very clean cut, and very important. Now all I saw was a man with tired eyes, and a cowering posture. Lucius Malfoy.

"Yes. Dumbledore is dead." Bellatrix said, with much pride.

"And, did Draco…?" Asked the woman.

"Not to worry, Cissy, Snape here was the one to do it." I had forgotten he was with us until she said that. "Although, if I were you, I'd be disappointed that my son was too weak to carry out this deed." I felt Draco stiffen a bit, and I wished I could reach over and hold his hand.

"I will never consider my son's action's weak." I liked this woman. She was strong.

"Where is the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix said, but she didn't have to wait for an answer.

"Did everything go according to plan, Bella?" That was it. The voice from my nightmares, the one yelling the killing curse at me. The one I heard at the Ministry of Magic last year. And sure enough, when I looked up, there he was. Lord Voldemort. In the flesh.

"Yes, my Lord, we've done it. Dumbledore is no more." Bella said, practically groveling at his feet. Classic clingy girlfriend. I tried to pry my eyes away from his noseless face, but I just couldn't. And when his eyes met mine, my insides went cold.

"And who do we have here?" Draco's grip tightened protectively around my arm.

"My Lord, we found this girl following us at the school. I was about to dispose of her, but Greyback here thinks she may be a Siren." Voldemort's eyes widened, but only slightly.

"I don't think, I know. She has a very distinct, very rare scent. She is definitely a Siren." Everyone was now scrutinizing me, and I felt extremely vulnerable.

"Is this true, girl? Are you a Siren?" I tried to think of a suitable lie, but the only ones that came to mind all ended in my mind with me being deemed unimportant and disposed of, as Bellatrix put it. So, I went with the painful truth.

"Yes, sir." I said. He nodded.

"And how developed are your powers?"

"Not very much, sir." He chuckled. Or, at least, he came as close to chuckling as someone like him ever could.

"Such a polite girl. What is your name, my dear?" I had been dreading telling them this, but it had to be done.

"Natalia Jackson, sir." A flash of recognition filled his face, but left as quickly as it had come.

"Ah, miss Jackson. Your parents were called Sean and Melissa, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And your sister was Nakayla?"

"Yes, sir." I almost couldn't handle her name being said by him. He was the reason she was gone.

"I'm told some of my… followers paid your family a visit a few years ago. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir." I said through my teeth. It was getting extremely hard to control my temper at that point.

"Ah. I see." I could tell that the interrogation was over. This was good, because if he had asked me any more questions, I would have let out the scream that had been building inside me and tried my best to off him right there. "Draco, Narcissa, will you please show this lovely young songbird to our guest room? And make sure she's comfortable. We will need her focused and relaxed for what is to come. The rest of you, follow me. We have plans to discuss."

My hands were magically unbound, and Draco started to lead me up the stairs. The never ending stairs, I's start calling them. It felt like hours went by as we climbed the huge, winding staircase. Narcissa was in front of us, so Draco took the opportunity to rub my back. It was very comforting, but I couldn't help but wish for a moment alone so we could talk. Finally, we took a turn that led us off the stairs. Narcissa opened a door, and stood aside so we could go through. As we passed her, she spoke.

"Draco, you can show her around a bit. I'm going to go get her some clean linens and lavatory supplies." And she left, closing the door. But he didn't show me around the room. Instead, we collapsed into each other's arms and clung on for dear life. We made our way to the bed so we could sit comfortably, and he pulled away. At first I didn't want him to, but then I realized that it was because he was going to kiss me. It was desperate, and felt as if we hadn't kissed in years.

"I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to be a part of any of this. And him questioning you about your family, and Greyback treating you like some five star meal, it's all so horrible. I'm so, so sorry." He said, after pulling away ever so slightly.

"None of this is your fault, Draco. Really, it's my fault. I'm so scared. I have no idea what's going on, and what he's going to do to me, and all I've wanted this whole time is to go back to when we were worrying about whether or not to tell our friends about us and now I may never see them again and I think I'm having a panic attack—"

"Shh, it's okay. Trust me. I won't let any of them hurt you. I wish I could tell you you're safe here." And we hugged some more, and somehow started snogging. Maybe it was just spur of the moment, scared about the future kissing, but it was what we needed to do at the moment. Well, until we heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway. It startled us so much that Draco accidentally bit my lip as he jumped away from me.

"Mother! Uh, I can explain…" He said, and she looked mildly amused.

"Well, explain away, then."

"We, uh… Well… oh, bloody hell. I love her, mother. We've been seeing each other secretly for months now, and I don't care what anyone has to say about it." He looked so proud and strong, standing there, sticking it to the man. I think only I could tell how nervous he was at what she would say. Well, being his mother, maybe she did too.

"Well, I don't see why anyone else has to find out about this. As for me, I just want you to be happy. And you are." The look on his face was priceless. I could tell he really cared about his mother, and what she thought of him. "Natalia, darling—"

"Please, call me Talia." I said, not liking when people use my full name.

"Alright. Talia, these are your sheets and blankets. We'll have to see about getting you some more clothes, and things to do, as you'll be spending quite a bit of time here. I highly doubt you'll be made to stay in this room at all times, but I'd actually prefer it if I were you. I'll try and do my best to make sure you two get to see each other as much as possible, but it may take some time. Now, I'm going to go down and join the others. Draco, you may stay for a little while longer, if you'd like."

"Thank you, mother. For understanding." He said to her, and went over to hug her.

"Yes, well, we could all do with some happiness lately." And she left us alone.

"I like her. Why didn't you mention how awesome your mum is?" I said once he was sitting next to me again.

"She wasn't always this way. I mean, she always cared about me. But it was the tough love kind of caring. But ever since all this crap happened, she's got a little soft spot for me. I think she just doesn't want me to lose myself to all these Death Eater ways." I flopped on my back, and he did the same. This had been a very interesting day.

"Hey, did you notice his face when he was talking about my family?" I asked him after a few minutes. He turned onto his side so he could see me.

"I did, actually. I thought I was just imagining it."

"You weren't. What was that about?"

"I have no idea. Maybe I'll do some snooping and find out."

"Just don't get in trouble! I don't think I could stay sane in this place without you."

"Sane?" He said, joking with me.

"Well, relatively sane."

"That's more like it." And we started kissing again. It was nice, just like it always was, but something was still bothering me. And when he crawled on top of me, I realized what it was.

"Wait, stop." I said, moving out from under him. He didn't look offended or anything, just concerned.

"What is it?"

"I just can't do this right now. There's something not right about it. Not with the Dark Lord in the same house." I crawled over to the headboard and leaned into all the pillows there. There were so many pillows! "You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course not. I get it. We can just sit for a while, if you want." I smiled, and pulled him close. "So, what are you going to do about all this? The Dark Lord wants to help you develop your powers to use for himself."

"Honestly, I have no idea. If I agree to this, and don't do it carefully, these powers could corrupt my mind. But if I don't do it, they'll kill me."

"Well, I'd rather like it if you didn't have to die."

"Me too. So I guess I'm doing this."

"I guess so." And we sat in silence for a few minutes. And then we heard someone shout from downstairs.

"Draco, would you please escort Miss Jackson down here? We have some rules to go over!" Bellatrix said. Great, just what I needed. Rules. Draco helped me out of bed, and then I looped my arm through his.

"And here we go. To my _doom_." I said, a little dramatically.

"I'll be right here the whole time." He said as we reached the bottom of the stairs. How many times a day was I going to have to go up and down these things?

"Here we are. Take a seat, everyone." Bellatrix said. I relaxed a little bit when I saw that Voldemort was nowhere around, even thought he was still probably in the house. But I'd take what I can get. "Okay, so here's what's going to happen. Natalia, you are going to practice controlling your powers, until you can control them perfectly. I don't care what it takes, or what we'll have to do to motivate you. Every few weeks, you are going to demonstrate how far you've gotten for the Dark Lord and all of his followers. When you're not practicing, you're going to act as a servant for the Malfoys. This means that you will assist them in any way possible. You can only leave the house if one of them is with you. Do you understand what I'm saying?" I nodded. "Oh, and while you are here, Greyback will not be allowed in this house unless he has been invited here. Now, you are all dismissed." We all got up and left. Draco and Narcissa and I went back up the never ending stairs, and I had a thought.

"I'm a little confused about something."

"What's that, love?" Draco said.

"Well, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled they're working so hard to keep Greyback out of here. But how could they possibly know about my fear of werewolves?" I asked Draco, but it was Narcissa that answered me.

"You see, dear, you're not the first Siren we've had here." Draco looked just as surprised as I was by this discovery. "And of course, Fenrir was just as obsessed with her as he is with you. But we had no idea how much he wanted her and what he would do. One day, he snuck in here, so he could drink from her blood that was so amazing to him."

"And he turned her?" Draco asked. She shook her head.

"Even worse. He killed her." I was horror struck.

"Wh… why?" I asked.

"He didn't try to. You see, he figured that she'd be just as useful as a werewolf. But what we didn't know at the time is that Siren blood is so powerful, it overpowers the poison in werewolf saliva. So he ended up taking her life."

"Oh God." I whispered. I was paralyzed the whole way back to my new room, so Draco had to lead me right to the bed.

"You know you don't have to worry, right? He's not allowed anywhere near you."

"Yeah, I know. This is just a lot to take in for one day. He wouldn't try anything, right? Because now he knows what will happen."

"It wouldn't be very smart of him, I'll tell you that." I sighed.

"Shit."

"You said it." We didn't talk for a little while. I was too busy freaking out on the inside, and I had a feeling he was doing the same. Finally, I couldn't contain it any longer.

"Okay, I can't take this anymore. I know I've been quiet and polite and all, and I may seem calm, but I'm SO not. I'm freaking out, Draco. I can't be a prisoner here!" I got up and started pacing.

"Slow down for a minute. There's nothing to be afraid of here." I stopped to stare at him incredulously.

"Oh yeah? How's that?" He was trying hard to find the right words.

"I'm not sure." He said. Told you so, Malfoy.

"Exactly." He got up too, so we were both standing. "Draco, there's everything to be afraid of here. And I know you keep saying things like 'It'll be okay, Talia.' And 'I'll be right here the whole time, Talia.' But you won't be, remember? Even your mother said she doesn't know how much time we'll get to spend together." He came over to me and pulled me into a nice, familiar, warm hug. I was about to pull away to kiss him, but we were interrupted for the millionth time.

"Draco! Come downstairs, you have duties to attend to!" Bellatrix said in a sing-song voice. Draco grunted in annoyance.

"I hate that woman. Ever since she's been here, it's like SHE has the authority to order me around. She's not my mother." He said. I wanted to help him, so I decided to lighten the mood with humor.

"It'll be okay, Draco. I'll be right here the whole time, Draco." I repeated his reassurances from before. He looked at me, and I gave him a "haha" kind of smile. At first he looked upset, but slowly I saw that wonderful smile of his appear. And then we both burst out laughing, which was a big mistake.

"DRACO! Quit taking advantage of the new servant, and get down here! NOW!" He sighed again, and leaned his head against mine.

"Okay, go on, get the hell out of here. I'll see you soon." I said, and I gently nudged him to the door. But when he was gone, I felt empty and alone.


	24. Chapter 24

**The Shopping Trip**

I didn't see Draco after that. Well, that's not technically true. Since I was trapped here, doing pointless, stupid shit for everyone here, I saw him all the time. The problem was, we couldn't speak. We could hardly even look at each other. Once in a while, when our paths crossed, we'd brush our hands together or "accidentally" bump into each other, but pretty soon it wasn't enough anymore. I needed to see him, to speak to him. Not having him was driving me crazy, especially when I had to listen to that psycho bitch Bellatrix shout orders at me.

When it was Narcissa giving me jobs, it was always in a really easy going voice. She sort of had a soft spot for me, but I didn't really know why. I mean, sure, I was dating her son. Sort of. But I hardly thought that was a reason for any of these people, especially her, to give me any special treatment. Draco never gave me things to do. Sometimes I wished he would, just so I could look at him.

I'd also been putting off practicing with my voice. Hermione once told me that a good exercise technique was to take a glass and focus on it until I was able to shatter it with my voice. It was stupid, I know. It reminded me of that one time in third year when the Fat Lady smashed that glass against the wall and tried to make us think it was her voice. But it was all I had, so I decided to try it one day when I had some alone time in my room.

"Okay. I can do this. Just focus, and sing. I got this." I had taken the glass from my nightstand that had water in it. I was staring at it, hoping it would spontaneously explode without me having to sing. Needless to say, it didn't.

"This is stupid! Just suck it up and sing, Talia!" I said to myself again. And finally, I took a big breath, and belted out a note, while looking at the glass. Nothing happened. I tried again, but got the same results. Nothing. It was so frustrating! If I didn't get the hang of this, I knew they would punish me.

About a month had passed since my arrival at the Manor. One day, as I was polishing some expensive looking silver vases and teapots in the kitchen, a shadow fell upon me. When I looked up, I saw Bellatrix looming over me, looking particularly insane.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked her, getting up.

"Were you humming?" She asked me.

"I… didn't notice, ma'am. I'm sorry if I was."

"Right. Were you just trying to send one of us over the edge? Trying to get one of us to let you out of here? What was it?"

"No, ma'am, I wasn't trying to control anyone. Honestly." She looked skeptical, but seemed to believe me.

"Very well, then. Mrs. Malfoy would like to speak to you in the living room. Go see what she wants immediately." I was beginning to see why Draco hated her so much. I mean, I always knew why I hated her, but she WAS incredibly bossy. I went into the living room, and Narcissa was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea. For some reason, Bellatrix followed me in, probably not trusting that I'd listen to her.

"You wished to speak to me, Mrs. Malfoy?" I asked, very politely, not wanting Bella to know we were on any other terms than master/servant.

"Yes, Miss Jackson, I did. You see, I have a need to go into London and do some shopping. Usually I coerce my son into helping me with the bag carrying, but since he's helping his father with some things today, I'm in need of some help. Are you up to the task?"

"Of course she is, Cissy, no need to be so polite." Bellatrix said. One of these days, lady…

"Yes ma'am, I can certainly help you with your shopping." I had a feeling my eyes were sparkling. I loved shopping so much, and I hadn't done it in so long.

"Wonderful. I should warn you, I have a bit of a spending problem, so we might be stuck with more bags than you can carry by yourself. We might have to have Draco meet up with us later." Narcissa, you sneaky devil. "Bella, would you please tell Draco to meet us at our usual lunch place when he's done?"

"Of course, Cissy." She left, and I slumped on the couch next to Narcissa.

"You're a life saver, Narcissa. Thank you."

"Of course, darling. Now, go get cleaned up and meet me back here in ten minutes, alright?"

"Yes ma'am!"

….

"I feel like I haven't seen sunlight in years." I said later, as we were walking around London, going from store to store. I had tipped my face up to soak in the sun, and it felt amazing. It was really fun, shopping with Narcissa. She had been buying a lot of stuff for herself and family, but she also bought me a lot of stuff. Especially clothes. It was amazing.

"You know, now that I think about it, that blue dress did look wonderful on you. We should go back and get it." She said, and we turned around.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. It is my favorite color."

"I thought purple and black were your favorite colors?"

"What, I have to choose now?" She laughed. "Plus, Draco mentioned a few times that he likes it when I wear blue." I said, smiling. Narcissa looked at me, and she smiled too.

"So, you two seem pretty serious."

"We are."

"Has he gotten you any jewelry?" I nodded.

"For Christmas, he got me this necklace." I said, and I pulled it up to show her. "I wear it every day."

"Well, I must say, my son has impeccable taste in jewelry. And his taste in girls has greatly improved, too. I never understood why he was with that Parkinson girl. She was incredibly obnoxious, and not nearly as pretty as you." I laughed so hard I almost choked on my iced tea.

"Trust me, you're not the only one to think that about her." And then she laughed.

"What about your birthday? Did he get you anything for that?"

"No, my birthday is in August, so he hasn't had the chance yet. Oh!"

"What?"

"I just remembered that my birthday is in a month."

"Oh, wonderful! Now I get to shop for a birthday present!"

"Oh please. You've already bought me a ton of stuff today."

"So?"

"Point taken."

"I have to say, having another woman around other than my sister is extremely refreshing."

"I can't believe you're related to her. You're so… awesome, and she's totally insane. And not in the good way."

"Well, you can't choose your family, right? And she wasn't always this way, believe it or not. We were very close once."

"Hmm. I never would have thought."

"That's okay. Ah, here we are!" We walked in and went back over to the dress that we'd changed our minds about. "Dear, why don't you go try it on again?" So I grabbed it and went into the dressing room.

"Hey, Narcissa? Do you mind if I ask you some things?"

"Of course, Talia. Ask away."

"Well, you see, you seem pretty gung-ho about shopping in all these muggle stores and stuff. Why is that?"

"I'm not nearly as closed-minded as everyone believes."

"That's really cool."

"Thank you. Is that all?"

"Well, no. Also, Draco once told me that you guys don't really spend money like this anymore. So why are you buying me all this stuff?"

"Well, for a few reasons, actually. First, I think we both needed to get out of that house for a while. Second, you still need more nice dresses, as the Dark Lord is going to start inviting you to dinners so you can show him what you've learned. Third, I thought it would be a nice opportunity for you and Draco to see each other. And last, I REALLY needed to go shopping, it's like I've been in shopping withdrawals for years now. I just never had anyone to go with."

"Same here. I think I inherited my shopping addiction from my mother. It's nice to have a mother figure type person to take me shopping." I said, and stepped out of the dressing room with a huge smile on my face.

"Yes, we were right about this dress. And I think you should wear it out of the store and for the rest of the day. Why don't you gather your things, and I'll go pay."

I loved this woman. Obviously she would never be able to replace my mother, but she was just like her in some ways. It was nice. All in all, she bought me six dresses and matching shoes for each. She seemed a little surprised that I wanted a pair of Converse for the blue dress, but once she saw how it looked, she approved. We did get some other basic clothes too, like jeans and t-shirts and just all around comfortable clothes. We sat down to eat outside this little café-type place, but we didn't eat just yet. And when I saw my favorite blonde haired boy running down the sidewalk toward us, I knew why.

"Oh my God! Draco!" And I ran to meet him. He did the whole pick-me-up-and-spin-me-around-in-the-air thing, and then we kissed once he set me down.

"I missed you." He said. We were such a sappy couple, but I didn't give a shit at the moment.

"I missed you too. Going a month without you has been torture."

"Don't you mean going a month without sex has been torture?"

"Well, of course. But I missed you too!" We walked back over to where Narcissa was sitting. When we sat down, she got up.

"Hey, what gives? I was having such a good time with my second mommy!" I said, and they both laughed.

"You two should be alone. And I've got to go do some shopping for myself. If I don't have anything new after today, they'll all know we went shopping for you."

"Smart." I said, and she left us alone.

"Draco, I love your mom. We had such a great morning. She bought me like six dresses! AND matching shoes! And she still wants to buy me something else for my birthday." He chuckled.

"Yeah, she's pretty great. Speaking of, what do you want for your birthday?" He asked.

"To get out of that stupid house. No offense." I said. He had grown up in it, after all.

"None taken. That's it?"

"Well, and jewelry, of course."

"Well that was already a given."

"Has anyone ever told you how perfect you are?"

"Yes. Many times."

"Jerk."

"You look really hot in that dress."

"Never mind!" We laughed, and then we ordered food. I wish I could say that I ate like a proper lady, with a salad and a fork and everything. But I didn't. And Draco thought it was hilarious.

"Slow down there, or you're gonna pull something."

"No way, dude. Have you seen the stuff they've been feeding me at the manor? It's all bland and leftovers. So this hot dog is pure gold right now." I finished and started licking my fingers. "Sorry if this is unattractive." I said, and smiled. He smiled back in a way that made me go light-headed.

"Actually, I find it pretty sexy." And then his face fell a little bit. "I'm sorry I haven't been doing much to make you more comfortable there." I reached over and took his hand.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. Honestly, there's not much you could do to make this better."

"Of course there is. I could be sneaking you better food, I could be visiting you at night when everyone's asleep, I could be taking you out of the house with me, I could be—"

"Okay, okay, maybe there are a few things you could do. But don't get all upset about it, okay? Please?" He tried for a smile, but didn't manage one, so I took my fingers and pushed up the corners of his mouth. And that made him smile for real. And then he grabbed my hands and started kissing my fingers, looking at me with his smoldering gaze. "So, maybe when we get back, you could 'summon' me to your room so I can help you… clean it."

"Sounds perfect. My room has been pretty unruly lately." He said, with a knowing glint in his eyes. Just then, Narcissa walked up, done with her shopping.

"I have to say, Talia, I really missed this. I think we should make it a weekly th—" She saw what she had interrupted, and suddenly looked embarrassed. I had a feeling I was blushing, too. "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe I should just go back and—"

"That's okay, Narcissa, we were just finishing our food. Did you find anything you couldn't live without?"

"Absolutely! I have to show you these shoes I just got…" As she went on about the shoes, and other items she bought, I glanced at Draco. We sat there, staring, playing footsie, for a few minutes. Until I heard Narcissa say, "Birthday present." That snapped me out of it.

"Birthday present?"

"Yes, dear, I got your birthday present already. I know it's a tad early, but it was just screaming 'Talia'."

"Well, thank you!"

"Of course. Now, I hate to put an end to this fun morning, but we really must head back. I'm told the Dark Lord is having all of his followers over tonight, and I think they may ask you to demonstrate something for them, Talia. I'm sorry." I was suddenly terrified.

"What! But I haven't even accomplished anything yet! What happens if I lose control in front of everyone! I can't even break the glass—"

"Talia, calm down. Everything's going to be just fine. They don't want you to show them anything interesting, they just want to see what you're all about." I calmed down, a little.

"Okay. I think I can do that."

"Plus, it will give you a chance to wear that fabulous little black dress we bought you, with those adorable shoes with the green on them." I giggled.

"I love how you look at the bright side of things." And we got up and went back to my prison.

….

"Draco, show Miss Jackson to my room so she can put away all my new stuff." Narcissa said, as we walked into the living room. I didn't understand why, until I saw Bellatrix standing by the fireplace. Thank God I had changed out of my new outfit before we went in. Was that woman everywhere?

"Yes, mother." And we started walking up the stairs. When we got to her room, Draco shut the door and took the bags from me. He set them on the floor, and then we both sat on the floor also. We were wiped.

"So, how exactly have you been practicing? What are you supposed to do?" He asked me. I sighed in frustration, and lay back on the floor.

"I don't even know! It's so stupid! Hermione and I were studying about this once, and she read something that said if I can focus on a glass and make it explode with my voice, I'd be doing well. But I haven't done anything yet! I can't even make the damn glass fall over!"

"Can you show me?"

"Yeah, let me get my bags and we can go into my room." We walked to my room, carefully of course, and shut the door quietly. Draco put a charm on the door so no one would hear us talking to each other.

"Okay, now show me." I pointed to the glass, and he sat on the bed. I sat next to him, got comfortable, and focused on the glass. And just like before, I belted out a single note. And just like before, nothing happened.

"You see? Nothing."

"You're trying too hard."

"What do you know? Are you suddenly an expert on Sirens?"

"Of course not. But when you were trying, you were forcing yourself. You were hardly breathing, and your face was turning red. Maybe you just need to relax, and try again. Don't force it." I looked at him like he was crazy, but then I shrugged. It was worth a try, I guess. I relaxed my arms and back, and closed my eyes, and tried again. Not only did I feel better doing it, I think I sounded better as well. Again nothing happened, so I tried again. And finally, I heard a crack.

"Bloody hell, I did it!" But when I opened my eyes, the glass was still there and completely whole. "What the heck?" I looked at Draco, but he was staring and pointing at something behind me. And when I turned around, there was one big crack going down the middle of the mirror on my vanity table.

"You did it." He said, and looked at me with excitement.

"Yeah, I did!" I got excited, too, and hugged him. But then I got a little less excited.

"Well, I didn't exactly do it. It wasn't what I wanted to do."

"Yeah, but you still accomplished something! Now you're just one step closer!" He was choosing to look at the positive thing, so I decided to do the same.

"That's true! I did it!" And I got up and started doing this really weird happy dance. Draco laughed and got up, but I never got to see him happy dancing, because Narcissa knocked on the door.

"Draco? Talia? May I come in?"

"Of course!" I said, still ecstatic. She came in.

"What's all the celebrating for?"

"I just made that mirror crack with my voice!" I said, and pointed to the mirror.

"Oh, you did? Talia, that's wonderful!"

"I know! Well, technically, I WAS aiming for that glass on the nightstand, but…"

"It's still a marvelous achievement, darling."

"Thank you."

"Now, you guys must get dressed for the party. Draco, please escort her downstairs in two hours."

"Yes, mother." He looked at me, and I looked at him, and I could tell we were both wishing we knew what was about to happen.

**A.N. I think I forgot to mention this, but I have a few outfits for certain parts of the story up on my profile, in case you want to check them out.**


	25. Chapter 25

**The Party at Malfoy Manor**

"So, how do I look?" I asked Draco once I was ready. He looked at me, and his eyes looked like they were about to fall out.

"You're a knock-out. Those stupid Death Eaters better keep their hands to themselves." I gave a nervous laugh, and started pacing. "Look, just focus on me the whole time. Okay? None of them will do anything to you. They value their positions too much."

"Yeah, I know. But I've never done this before. You're the only one I've ever sang for before, and we always ended up having sex."

"Forgive me, but I'm failing to see the problem here." I smacked his shoulder.

"When it was only you, it was just your energy I was taking. But tonight, it will be so much more people, and so much more power. I don't think I'm strong enough to take it all in without losing my mind."

"Of course you are. And I'll be right here to help you. Even if we have to have sex all night long."

"The things you're willing to sacrifice." I said sarcastically. He stuck out his arm so I could hang on to him, and we made our way downstairs. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "Thank God he's here with me right now." But that still wasn't helping the slight headache I had. "My head hurts." I whispered, as we were getting closer, and I didn't want anyone to hear.

"How bad is it?" He whispered back.

"It's not terrible. But it definitely hurts."

"The party will be over in a few hours."

"I know." I would've said more, but we'd reached the bottom. Immediately, every head turned to look at me, and I felt like screaming and running in the other direction. Draco must have guessed my feelings, because his grip on my arm tightened.

"Wonderful, now everyone's here. Dinner can begin." Bellatrix said, apparently in charge.

Dinner was really awkward. The food was pretty good, though. Voldemort sat at the head of the table, and the Malfoys all sat together. I hadn't seen much of Lucius until then, but he didn't look any better than when I first got here. As usual, Bellatrix was groveling like a hungry puppy over the Dark Lord. No one but those two and a few other Death Eaters were talking, and the only other sound was forks clinking on plates. It was doing nothing for my nerves. But then Bellatrix stood up and spoke.

"If you're all finished, we should make our way into the ball room where the presentation will start." Was that all I was? The presentation? The entertainment? As everyone started to get up, Bellatrix moved toward me, and I had a last second thought. I leaned so only Draco and Narcissa could hear me.

"Draco, you have to pretend to be drawn to me, okay? Narcissa, you too." And then Bellatrix reached me and pulled me away, but not before Narcissa whispered to Draco, "And why should you have to _pretend, _young man?" I smiled a little.

Bella led me into the huge ball room, which made my jaw drop. It was obvious they only used this room for special occasions, so I felt momentarily flattered. The room was ginormous! The chandelier looked like it was crystal, maybe even diamond. There was a raised platform, two steps above the normal floor level, where a big, ancient looking thrown sat right in the middle. Let me guess: That's where Voldemort sat. Bellatrix waved her wand, and the chair hovered to the back of the room, where the shadows were. And sure enough, the Dark Lord sat down and waited for everyone to enter the room.

"Now listen here, girl. You'll sing one song. A nice one, not one that's going to make us all want to murder each other. No funny business, no dawdling. Get up there, sing, and then leave. Got it?" I had a vision of strangling her just then. I didn't think anyone would mind very much, except maybe Narcissa. And that's just because she'd have to pay for the funeral. So, instead, I just smiled and agreed.

"Yes, Ma'am."

I went up the two steps, and turned around to find all eyes on me once again. It was horribly overwhelming, and I would've passed out if Draco and Narcissa weren't standing there, giving me reassuring smiles. I spotted the piano and other instruments in the room, and charmed them to play a song. The intro was long, but the lyrics were fairly safe to sing.

_Under your spell again_

_I can't say no to you_

_Crave my heart, and it's bleeding in your hand_

_I can't say no to you_

_Shouldn't let you torture me so sweetly_

_Now I can't let go of this dream_

_I can't breathe, but I feel…_

_Good enough_

_I feel good enough for you_

_Drink up sweet decadence_

_I can't say no to you_

_And I've completely lost myself, and I don't mind_

_I can't say no to you_

_Shouldn't let you conquer me completely_

_Now I can't let go of this dream,_

_Can't believe that I feel_

_Good enough_

_I feel good enough_

_It's been such a long time coming, but I feel good._

_And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall_

_Pour real life down on me_

_'Cause I can't hold on to anything this good enough_

_Am I good enough for you to love me too?_

_So take care what you ask of me_

_'Cause I can't say no._

I came to a close feeling amazing. I felt like I could kill Voldemort with my bare hands right then. There was so much power running through my body. My blood was power, my breath was power. My fingers and toes were tingling, and when I looked down, my fingertips were glowing green. Not the cold, evil green of Voldemort or the killing curse, but a bright, lime-ish green. I could tell my eyes were the same color, and I had a vision of using this green energy to blast someone off their feet right that second. And I knew I could, too. I could feel it. It took an immense amount of restrain to not do it.

When I looked at everyone else, they were all mesmerized by me. Some were crying, some were drooling, and some were just looking at me like I was the reason for their existence. It added to the feeling of power, this hold I had over everyone. This was the best feeling I'd ever had before. Better than my first time having sex, maybe even my first time having sex with Malfoy. I lifted my hands so they were in front of me, so I could see them better. They weren't only glowing green, they were emitting this shimmery, green, swirly… it looked like curly wisps of mist. It was hard to explain. I was curious as to how Voldemort was reacting to this, so I looked to the back of the room. His eyes were very faintly glowing green, but he was otherwise unaffected. He stood up, and I thought he was going to be upset with me. The thought of him scolding me got me violently angry, and I had to take in a deep breath to calm myself.

"That was very impressive, my dear." I was a little surprised, so it took me a few seconds to respond.

"Thank you, my Lord." And I was shocked at how different my voice was. I mean, it was still MY voice, but it was filled with something more. It was almost as if it was vibrating.

"I was thinking that now, maybe you can show us something a little more… effective." By his eyes, I could tell what he meant. I smiled an evil smile, and thought to myself, "Suck it, Bellatrix."

"Of course I can, my Lord." Was what I said instead. I already had the perfect song in mind.

_I've been looking in the mirror for so long_

_That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side_

_All the little pieces falling, shatter_

_Shards of me, too sharp to put back together_

_Too small to matter_

_But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces_

_If I try to touch her_

_And I bleed_

_I bleed_

_And I breathe,_

_I breathe no more._

_Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well_

_Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child_

_Lie to me, convince me that I've been sick forever_

_And all of this will make sense when I get better_

_But I know the difference_

_Between myself, and my reflection_

_I just can't help but to wonder_

_Which of us do you love?_

_So I bleed_

_I bleed_

_And I breathe_

_I breathe no…_

_Bleed_

_I bleed_

_And I breathe…_

_I breathe…_

_I breathe no more_

I put emphasis on the last part of the song, and was pleased with the results. Once I stopped singing, everyone started gasping for breath. They were all suffocating. Well, except for the Dark Lord, Draco, and Narcissa. But Voldemort didn't seem to notice that the last two weren't effected, which was good. He had a glint in his eyes, and looked pleased with me. I know I hated him, and prayed for the day that Harry destroyed him once and for all, but seeing his pride in me made me feel the same pride in myself. Seeing him pleased in me made me want to please him more, so I raised my hands a little, and then twisted them as if I was twisting a doorknob. All at once, blood started to pour out of everyone's ears and noses. I felt amazing, and powerful, and wicked, and…

Guilty. One look at Draco's expressing filled me with grief that I had let this take over me so easily. He looked horror-struck. Not at me, but at everyone else. I switched my gaze to Narcissa, who had a similar look on her face, plus a few tears. When I shifted my gaze once again, this time to Voldemort, his face scared me. His eyes weren't green anymore, but they still held the same expression. How could I let someone so evil be proud of me? And HOW could I let it make me want this power more? I put my hands down, and everyone was better. They could all breathe again, and started to wipe the leftover blood from their faces. I stepped down from the stage-type structure, and made my way to the doors. But when I was almost there, Voldemort's hand on my shoulder stopped me.

"You will do great things for me, my dear."

Without any sort of acknowledgement, I moved away from him and towards the doors once again. When I was finally out of that crowded room, I fell to my knees and started hyperventilating. I knew I shouldn't stay long, for the Death Eaters would surely be making their ways out of the room any minute, but I couldn't bring myself to move. I was exhausted, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me and help me up. They were so comfortable and familiar; they could only belong to Draco.

"Come on, let's get away from here." He said, and he led me upstairs. But instead of my room, he steered me towards his.

It was a really nice room. He had a huge, four poster bed, King size, with emerald green canopies and everything. There were so many throw pillows on it I thought someone could get lost in there, and they were a mixture of black, dark green, and silver. The comforter was a black, silky material, and it was just screaming for me to lay down on it. But Draco led me into the bathroom. Of course he would have his own bathroom. What was he doing? I would've asked him, but my mind was still in shock from before. He picked me up and sat me on the counter top, and then turned toward the bathtub. He started running the water, and then started to unbutton his shirt, which of course was what made me able to talk again.

"Hold on a second. What are you doing?"

"We're going to take a hot bubble bath."

"Are you serious? You think getting naked and taking a bath is going to help me?"

"We're not getting naked." He waved his wand, and I felt something change under my dress. When I looked underneath, I saw that my bikini had magically appeared on me.

"Ah, I see now." And we got undressed. Of course, the dress was so tight; Draco had to help me out of it. And when I stepped into the tub and sat down, and Draco followed, also in his bathing suit, I let out a sigh. "Maybe this is what I need."

"Told you so." He smiled at me, and started poking my side with his toe. I laughed, and splashed him. We played around for a little bit, splashing and tickling, completely disregarding the fact that we could be caught messing around any minute. But we never got caught. Apparently people were smart enough not to go into Draco's room unannounced. But after a while, we calmed down, and I started to ponder the events of the evening. And then of course, I started to tear up a bit.

"I can't believe I almost killed all those people."

"Honestly, I didn't think it would matter so much to you." He said, and I kicked him.

"You asshole. I don't care how evil they are, I'm not a killer."

"Exactly, Talia, you're not a killer. So you never would've killed them, anyway."

"You don't understand. I wanted to. When I saw them all, gasping for breath, it made me happy. And seeing the look of pride on Voldemort's face filled me with triumph. If I hadn't looked at you, they all would have died." He grabbed my foot and started massaging it, and I calmed down a little.

"I wouldn't have let you. Even if it took tackling you to the floor, I wouldn't have let you kill them." I smiled gratefully at him, not bothering to mention that he wouldn't have gotten within ten feet of me before I knocked him back with my green glowy hands. I sighed, wishing I had a drink in my hand. And, like always, Draco guessed my thoughts, and snapped his fingers. And from outside the bathroom door, we heard a tiny, squeaky voice.

"You called, Mr. Malfoy?" It sounded like another little house elf I knew, so I looked at Draco and mouthed, "Dobby?" But he shook his head.

"Do you think you could send me up a couple of drinks?" He asked the elf.

"A couple, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, a couple. Two, to be exact. I'm very thirsty."

"Right away, sir."

"Thank you, Slinky." And a second later, two glasses of fire whiskey appeared on the edge of the tub.

"Slinky? That's your house elf's name?" He shrugged.

"Hey, I didn't name him that." I picked up my glass and took a small sip, letting the liquid warm my body as it traveled down to my stomach. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, wishing for the millionth time that we were back at Hogwarts where everything was so much easier. Wanting to talk about something different at the moment, I quickly searched for a topic.

"Have you ever learned the Patronus Charm?" I asked him. He looked surprised, but still answered.

"Well, yes, actually. My mum taught me a couple summers ago. You?"

"Yeah. Last year, when Harry was teaching everyone in the Room of Requirement, he taught us."

"Where did he learn that? It's not like we learned it in school."

"Lupin taught him, Third Year. When the Dementors were at school." He frowned.

"What?"

"I was a jerk to Harry that year."

"You mean, more so than all the other years?"

"Point taken. Remind me to compliment Hermione's punch next time I see her. I know I deserved it."

"Just be glad I'm not the one that punched you. I probably would've broken your nose."

"I'm sure you would have." He looked at me like he was the luckiest guy on the planet. Weirdo. "So, what's yours?"

"What?"

"What's your patronus?" He asked me.

"Oh. It's a Phoenix."

"That's so you."

"Well, that's kind of the point, isn't it?"

"I guess so. Wait, wasn't that Dumbledore's patronus?"

"Yeah, I think so…" I trailed off, remembering Dumbledore's vacant face as he fell off the Astronomy Tower that night. Sensing my change of mood, Draco continued the conversation.

"So, aren't you going to guess what my patronus is?" He said, and I smiled.

"Let me guess: It's a snake, for the Slytherin Prince."

"No, actually. It's a peacock." That was a surprise.

"Really? That's not what I expected."

"Yeah, I know it's a little weird."

"No, it sounds beautiful. I hope I get to see it someday."

"Well, since that would mean we were facing a dementor, I hope you don't." I loved this man. He cared so much, and nobody but me knew it. It wasn't fair.

"Well, I'm starting to prune, so I think this bath is coming to a close. But thank you. It helped. We should do it again sometime!" I said, in a very perky voice, getting out of the water.

"Tomorrow, same time, same place?" He said, following me.

"It's a date." And we kissed goodbye. But as I walked to his bedroom door, and I heard him sit down on the bed, my feet slowed down until I was touching the doorknob but not moving it. He got up and walked over to where he was behind me, and started rubbing my arms.

"Do you want to stay?" He asked me. I nodded, turning around.

"I just… Don't want to be alone tonight."

And then he nodded, and stated walking backwards, pulling me with him. There wasn't anything sexual about the way he was looking at me, or leading me to bed. There was just love. Love, and concern. And even though we spent the night together, as we had many times before, we didn't have sex. We just slept.

**A.N. The first song is Good Enough by Evanescence, and the second is Breathe No More, also by Evanescence. I'm a big Evanescence fan.**


	26. Chapter 26

**The Birthday**

It was the morning of August the 2nd, and I awoke feeling unusually depressed. I mean, I was usually a little sad in this place, but today was different. It was my 17th birthday, after all! I should've been feeling like I was on top of the world. But instead, I felt this empty, aching feeling within me. It was my 17th birthday, and I had to spend it here. With these people, who made me do slave work. My family wasn't with me, or my friends, and I probably wouldn't get to spend any time with Draco. I hadn't for a few weeks, now, which just added to today's depression.

I got up and shuffled to the bathroom to take a shower. I looked around the plain, boring bathroom, and got even more upset. My bathroom was so boring. It didn't have a nice, Jacuzzi bathtub like Draco's, or really nice floor tiles and paint, or even a cute little shaggy rug. It was just white. Well, maybe some sort of off-white/cream color. One of these days, I was going to go crazy. But then I got in the shower and turned the heat up. It felt so GOOD. I knew I'd have to get out eventually, so I told myself to enjoy it. But then I thought to myself, "What the hell. It's my birthday! I'm gonna stay in here as long as I bloody hell want to!" And I sat down and enjoyed myself even more.

When I did eventually get out, get dressed, and blow-dry my hair, I was in a little bit of a better mood. I went back out into my room to find some things on the floor in front of my door. It appeared to be two notes, and underneath one was a round box. I picked up the note on top of the box, opened it, ad read it.

_Dear Talia,_

_Happy birthday! I'm so sorry I couldn't say it to you in person this morning, but I was in a bit of a hurry. I've been given an errand to do, and won't be back until later. But I think you should enjoy today, no matter what. After all, a girl only turns 17 once! I only wish you could spend it with people who care about you. While I'm out today, I think I might get you a little something else to go with the present I already got you._

_Love,_

_Narcissa._

_P.S. There's a cake for you in the box I sent with this letter. Enjoy!_

I smiled. I fricken loved that woman. And when I saw the cake she sent me, I think I loved her a little bit more. It was beautiful! And it was topped with little pieces of candy! I loved candy! I picked up a few pieces and popped them in my mouth as I picked up the second letter. I smiled as I saw the familiar handwriting that said my name on the front.

_Dear Talia,_

_Happy birthday. I wish I could've woken up next you this morning so I could tell you first thing. I remember that you said what you wanted for your birthday was to get out of the house, so I'm getting a surprise ready for you. Be ready to go at eleven o'clock. Bring a swim suit. I'll meet you at your door._

_Draco_

Bring a swim suit? What the hell? What kind of surprise was this? Well, whatever it was, it was getting me out of this hell hole, so I wasn't complaining. I looked at the clock and saw that it was already 10:30, and started to scramble. Where was all the beach stuff that Narcissa had bought me? Frantically searching around for it, I remembered that particular of the shopping trip.

"Why do I even need swimming stuff? It's not like I'll be allowed to go to the beach or anything, and I'm SO not going to fake it in the bathtub." I had said to her while searching through the millions of racks of bathing suits.

"You never know, my dear. Just trust me." She had said with a sly, knowing smile on her lips.

Only after I emptied out my entire dresser, did I realize that my swimming stuff was all in the wardrobe. That was dumb, why'd I put them in there? Whatever. I didn't have time for this. I stuffed everything I thought I might need, but then decided to bring the cake along too, which meant I had to take everything out again so I could hide the cake at the bottom. After everything was jammed in there, it looked like it was about to explode. I was just finishing up getting ready when there was a knock on the door. I panicked for a second, hoping it wasn't Bellatrix spoiling my birthday plans. But then I realized that Bellatrix didn't knock.

"It's just me, let me in." Draco said from the other side of the door. I opened it just enough for him to squeeze through, and shut it quickly. He pulled me into a tight hug.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, just let me get my bag." I walked over to where it was sitting, and hauled it over my shoulder. It was kind of an awkward shape, and Draco started laughing at me.

"Got enough stuff?" He said, and took the bag from me.

"Well, not exactly, it's just too small to fit everything. He shook his head and pulled out his wand, and put an extension charm on the bag. Suddenly it looked like there was hardly anything it. "Show off." I muttered.

"Why didn't you do it?" He asked me. I gave him a look.

"Do you really think they let me keep my wand here?" He suddenly looked sheepish. But then he had a thought.

"I might be able to help with that. Hold on a second." And he left. Really, dude? I sat down on the bed, and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. Finally I laid back on the bed and grabbed my book, and about twenty minutes later, he came through the door again, twirling my wand between his fingers in one hand.

"How did you get it?" I squealed, jumping up to grab it. I missed my wand so much. I honestly didn't know how the muggles coped with all these chores and cleaning without magic all the time, when I could hardly stand going without it for a couple months.

"I told Bellatrix that I needed to take you for the day to help with some errands I had to do, and that you'd need your wand for it. And I promised to put it back where it goes once we get back, but I won't. She never checks there anyway." I hugged him.

"You're a bloody genius, Draco Malfoy. Thank you."

"No problem. Now, let's get out of here already. We're late now."

"Wonder whose fault _that _is." I said, sarcastically. We left the room, which meant we had to be quiet from that point. But it didn't stop him from grabbing my hand and holding it tight. But as we made our way down the Never Ending Stairs, I let go of his hand and fell behind him a few steps. If Draco was actually getting me out of this house for a while, it was only because they thought he was taking me out as a servant. Us holding walking next to each other and holding hands would kind of send the wrong message. Well, technically it would've been the correct message, but not one that we wanted them to catch on to. Duh.

"Draco, I'm glad to see your mother isn't the only one taking advantage of the family's new servant." I tensed a bit when she called me a servant, and I saw that Draco did, too. But his face gave nothing away, and I mentally gave him some props. The dude could be an actor.

"Yes, Aunt Bella. We'll be leaving now." And he started to leave. But then Bellatrix grabbed my shoulder, stopping me.

"What's in the bag, girl?" I struggled to find an answer, hoping she wouldn't go looking in there herself. "Well? What are you carrying in that bag?" I said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's some supplies for Dr—Mr. Malfoy to use on his errand today." She looked skeptical, so I added, "He made me carry them." She was still looking at me pointedly, but seemed to buy it.

"Well, of course he did. That's the whole point of being a personal servant. Now move it, you're making him wait." I wanted to say, "You dumb bitch, YOU were the reason I'm making him wait!"

"Yes, Ma'am." Was what came out. I was such a coward. No, I take that back. I'm not a coward. I just know when to keep my mouth shut. When I reached Draco, he looked concerned, but started walking a few steps ahead of me again. But when we could be sure Bellatrix couldn't hear us anymore, he spoke to me.

"Are you okay? What did she say to you?"

"She was just suspicious about what was in my bag, so I told her you were making me carry a few supplies for you. I'm fine."

"Good. 'Cause if she hurt you, I might have had to kill her. And since I have absolutely no emotional attachment to the woman, it would've been that much easier." I laughed. Draco looked back to see that Bellatrix was no longer watching us leave, so he grabbed my hand and tugged me into the trees

"Whoa dude, where are you yanking me to?"

"We have to walk through the trees for a few minutes to get to where I hid it."

"Hid what?"

"You'll see." He said, and winked at me. To my surprise, I giggled a little bit. When I saw the content smile on his face, I pulled him to a stop. "What?"

"Just a sec…" I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down into a deep, passionate kiss. It caught him by surprise, but only for a second, and then he grabbed my waist with one hand and put the other behind my head. We started moving, and before I knew it, he was sitting against a tree, and I was straddling him. Once in a while, his lips would make their way to my neck and collar bone, and even the tops of my breasts. But they always found their way back to my lips again.

"Your lips are always so soft. How do you do it?" He asked me, taking a break to catch his breath.

"I use a lot of lip balm."

"Really? Even when we don't get to see each other that much these days?"

"Of course. I always like to be prepared." I said, and we went back at it for about ten minutes. And when he pulled away, finally, it was very reluctantly. "Hey, what gives? I was just getting started!" I said, and pouted when he got up and pulled me up with him.

"Trust me, I would love to stay here and do this all day. But I've got this awesome day for you planned, and I'd hate for it to go to waste. And we're running late."

"Oh, alright." I said, still pouting just a little. He gave me a sneaky smile.

"But just so you know, I planned for us to have a little bit of alone time later." I perked up at that thought.

"Really?"

"Of course. I always like to be prepared." He said, using my own words from before. And then we walked for a few more minutes, and came to a stop, apparently having reached our destination. I looked around, wondering why we were still in the middle of the woods.

"I gotta say, this is some awesome party you pulled together. Who did the decorations, some wood nymphs?" I said, sarcastically.

"Shut up, this is just where I hid the transportation." And he pulled out a beautiful Nimbus 2001 broomstick. I went over and stroked it, noticing that it was in perfect condition.

"You know, for having been kept in a bush for all this time, this broomstick looks like it's brand new." I said.

"I come out here every few days to check on it, make sure it hasn't been moved or scuffed or anything." I looked at his face, and saw such fondness for the broom, that I smiled.

"You really love to fly, don't you?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"Yeah. I do."

"Do you ever miss playing Quidditch?"

"Every day." I grabbed his hand.

"You know, I never said this to any of my friends, of course, but even when you first started playing in Second Year, I thought you were a brilliant flyer. I mean, I still hated you and all, but you were still really good."

"Thanks. Now hop on, we have to get going." I was excited. I had never flown with him before. And it was amazing. As we flew up above the trees, I noticed that there were so many other mansions just like his. Well, maybe the same size, but they all looked just a bit more cheery. We flew for a few minutes, but stayed in the same neighborhood as we touched down to the ground. When I looked up, I saw a house that was easily just as big as Malfoy Manor. I mean, why do these people need such big houses? I know the Malfoy's have all those… guests to take care of, but it's not like every family in this place has all those people to put up with. I was just starting to admire the garden when I heard a familiar voice.

"It's about time, you guys!" I looked to the path that I assumed led to the back yard, and saw Blaise Zabini, smiling over at us.

"Blaise!" I said, and ran over to hug him. But then I pulled back right away.

"Dude, why are you all wet?" And then I realized he was wearing his bathing suit.

"Decided to jump in without us, huh?" Draco asked him, also hugging him. But it was more of a man-hug.

"Well, come on. I wasn't going to wait forever for you two slow pokes."

"Sorry man, we got a little side-tracked in the woods." He said, smiling at me. Blaise reached over and pulled a twig out of my hair that had been tangled in there pretty well.

"I can see that." He didn't look bitter or anything, which was good. Just happy to see us. "Now come on! Let the birthday festivities commence!"

"Huzzah!" Draco said, and I screamed when he suddenly hitched me up on his back to give me a piggy-back ride to where Blaise had disappeared to. But then, for some reason, he put me down and pulled me into a corner real quick.

"I almost forgot to tell you. Blaise can't know you're a prisoner. It's very important." That surprised me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because no one is supposed to know that the Dark Lord is at our house, except for his followers. Blaise's family isn't. Saying that you're pretty much our new slave would give everything away. Promise you won't say anything?"

"Of course I won't, if you don't want me to. Why would I?"

"I don't know. You might think that Blaise could try and get you out, or he could bring a message to someone or something." That was a good point.

"I didn't even think about that actually..." It got me thinking, though. Maybe Blaise could… no. I trusted Draco. And I trusted me to be able to take care of myself. Plus, I had already promised Draco, and I wouldn't go back on that. So, I guess that meant silence. "It doesn't matter. I won't say anything."

"Thank you." He said, and quickly kissed me. And then he once again hitched me up on his back.

"And here we go again," I joked, but I stopped giggling when I saw the sight of the back of Blaise's house. If the front was impressive, then this was just… there wasn't even words to describe it. That's how huge and amazing it was.

For starters, he had a pool. A huge, in ground pool that had to be, like, twenty feet at the deep end. I had always wanted a pool growing up, but it had never happened. This was literally a dream come true. And then my eyes traveled to the hot tub right next to the pool, and I think I might have drooled a little bit. And that's nothing compared to when I saw the gazebo, that had the curtains drawn on the inside. I couldn't be sure, but I think I shed one, single tear. And there was a buffet of food, and a whole table of different types of candy and ice cream, and there were balloons everywhere. All the decorations were my favorite colors: blue, purple, black, and silver, some were sparkly, and some were metallic.

"Draco, I've decided that I'm leaving you for Blaise."

"How will I go on?" He said, amused at my joke.

"You'll be alright. I here Pansy Parkinson is available again.

"That lunatic is always available." Said Blaise.

"True."

"Anyway, you can't leave me for Blaise." Draco said.

"And why is that?" I asked him.

"Well, because Blaise can't—" And he finished that sentence by whispering some dirty little words in my ear.

"You do have a point, Malfoy. Sorry, Zabini, I've changed my mind."

"Tease." Blaise said, smiling.

…

"This is so relaxing. You guys are amazing." I was sitting on a lounge chair, while the two boys gave me the best massages of my life. Blaise was at my neck and shoulders, while Draco took care of my feet. I was wearing some sunglasses, sipping a half lemonade-half iced tea drink, enjoying the sun. We had already done everything else there was to do, like swimming in the pool, chillaxing in the hot tub, and we even had gotten into a mini food-fight afterwards. I had stuffed my bag full of candy, thinking it was enough for a few years.

"Blaise, I'm absolutely stuffed. I haven't eaten this good since Hogwarts." I didn't realize the words might have been a mistake until I said them.

"Yeah, where did you disappear to so early last year? I know Malfoy got pulled out for family stuff, but what about you?" Blaise asked me, and I had to think of something quickly.

"Well, I had already gotten all my exams finished, and I wanted to spend some time with Draco before I went back home for the summer."

"Man, I wish I could've left so early." Dodged that bullet. But then came another one. "So, I guess the Malfoy's haven't been feeding you so well, huh?" He said, smirking at Draco, who tentatively smiled back. Luckily, my mind was working fast today, despite my relaxed state.

"Oh, sure they do. I mean, there's lots of food and stuff. It's just… well, it's all a bit bland." I whispered that last bit to Blaise, loud enough to make it sound like a joke. Actually, it wasn't that much of a lie. The food they gave me was pretty bland. It was all butter-less dinner rolls that were most likely from the night before, or mashed potatoes without the gravy. Draco, apparently wanting to change the subject, did so.

"So, where did all this food come from, anyway?" He asked Blaise. Blaise looked a little apprehensive at answering.

"Well, I, um, made it." Draco stared at him, and I briefly turned to stare at him also.

"You made this? I had no idea that you could do all this chef stuff." I said.

"Me neither." Draco said, and Blaise looked apologetic at him.

"I'm sorry, man, for not telling you. It's just not a very "Slytherin" thing to like, you know? Cooking and stuff."

"I get it. But I'm still pretty surprised. But in a good way, I promise." Draco said, and Blaise looked relieved to get his best friend's approval.

"How did you learn? I mean, I hate to say it, but your parents don't seem like the "teach your son how to cook" types of people." He laughed a little.

"You're right about that. It was my nanny, actually. I always watched her cooking and baking and ended up helping her most of the time. And eventually, it became something I love to do."

"I think that's wonderful, Blaise." I said to him. He smiled, and we started talking about other things. When I finished my drink, I got up to get another one, but Draco hopped up before I had the chance to.

"No, no, let me do that. You just sit back and relax." He said, and kissed me, and ran inside.

"Well, I suppose that means you can have a break too, Jeeves." I said to Blaise, and he took a seat next to me.

"Things seem to be going good between you and Malfoy." He said, and I think I detected a little jealousy in there.

"I'm sorry,Blaise. Is this terribly awkward?" I asked him, sitting up so we could talk easier.

"Well, maybe a little. But you don't need to worry about it. It's not your fault. Or Malfoy's, either. It's all me."

"What is it?" He gave me a meaningful look, a look that could only mean one thing. He was in love with me. "Oh."

"Please don't tell Malfoy. I mean, I think he'd be cool with it, maybe, but I'd be more comfortable if he didn't know."

"Of course I won't tell him. Don't worry." I said, and patted his hand.

"Thanks." And then Draco came back and handed me my drink. He even put one of those little umbrellas in it. I loved that guy. He started to massage my feet again, but Blaise stood up.

"Nope, spa time is officially over with."

"What, you have everything scheduled?" I asked him, joking. But looking at his face I realized that he was completely serious. "You have everything scheduled?" He nodded.

"Yep, and the next event starts in approximately ten point five minutes." He looked at Draco, and Draco looked back, and I realized that they were keeping some sort of secret.

"Um, do you guys want me to leave you alone for a few minutes?" I asked. They both started laughing, and then Draco grabbed my hand.

"Just come on!" He said, and we started walking towards the gazebo.

Blaise followed us up to the door, but when Draco opened it, he didn't follow. And when I made my way inside, I could see why. It was amazing. Draco was always good at making things romantic, but this was big. Even for him. He did always love his candles, which were once again everywhere, and there was champagne, and even a bed. I looked back to see Blaise quietly shutting the door behind us, but not before wagging his eyebrows at me. I turned back to see Draco sit down on the bed, so I followed him.

"You know, I think this may be the first time we've actually had sex in a bed."

"Not true! In the Room of Requirement…"

"We had sex on a couch, on the floor, and on an old mattress on the floor. Never on an actual, off-the-floor bed."

"Hmm. Well, maybe we should hurry up and change that."

And we did.

…

"It's been way too long." I said, after we finished. Well, after we finished the third or fourth time, at least. Honestly, I probably could've gone a few more times. But I thought I'd let Draco catch his breath for a little bit.

"Yeah, maybe we should go months and months without doing this all the time." I looked at him.

"I'd really rather not."

"Yeah, me neither." And after that, we just sat there, tangled up in the sheets, and each other. But then I decided to tell him something.

"Hey, I have to tell you something."

"Oh, so _now _you break up with me." I laughed.

"This is serious!"

"Okay. What is it?"

"Well, it's just that I've been practicing my voice weapon shit." He bolted up to a sitting position.

"And you didn't mention this sooner because…"

"Because we've been with Blaise all day, Sherlock!"

"Okay, okay, point taken."

"Want me to show you how far I've gotten?" He looked a little skeptical.

"In here? Where we're surrounded by glass walls?" I shook my head, but didn't answer him. Instead, I turned to the neglected champagne glasses, and focused on the closest one. With one, big inhale of breath, I let out a short, precise sounding note, and the glass, only the glass, shattered. "Whoa."

I laughed, and then repeated with the second glass. And then I moved onto a vase in the corner, and then to the windows, until all the glass in the gazebo was shattered. Not wanting Blaise to find out that I just destroyed his family's gazebo, I used my wand and put everything back to normal. When I looked to Draco, his face showed so much winder that I smiled. And when he spoke, it was words that gave me the confidence I needed.

"You've SO got this."


	27. Chapter 27

**The Meeting**

"You call _that _a good polishing job?" Bellatrix said, as she loomed over where I was sitting. Apparently there was some super important Death Eater meeting, so I had to do an incredibly thorough job at cleaning the house today. Well, at least the parts that people would see. I had just made my way to the last corner of the house, and was relieved to be almost done so I could go upstairs and take a hot shower. Maybe even invite Draco to share it with me, I had thought with a smile on my face. I mean, seeing as how he was Voldemort's newest recruit, he should really present himself as a very clean person, right? And that could only be accomplished if he had someone there to help him clean places he couldn't reach, like his back. And of course, as I was having these amazingly dirty thoughts, that's when Bellatrix decided to rain on my parade.

"Of course not, ma'am. I'll go over it again." I said to her, trying not to make eye contact. She creeped me out. Instead, I tried finding something to focus on behind her, which was super easy since Draco had just come down the stairs with a book in his hand. When Bellatrix didn't immediately answer, I got worried. So I looked up at her.

"Of course you will. Just like you'll go back to where you started and go over everything else a second time." I thought about arguing, but that was a terrible idea. And apparently Draco had the same idea, because when she said that, he got mad and started making his way over to us.

"Yes ma'am." I said quickly, before Draco had a chance to speak. Bellatrix smiled at me, which always managed to make her seem just a little bit creepier.

"Very good." And she turned around to go down a hallway that I'd never been through.

"Do you want me to polish anything down that hallway, ma'am?" I asked her, and she suddenly went rigid. When she turned around and ran towards me, her knife suddenly in her hand, I got scared and backed against the wall. She came up to me and rested the knife against my neck, and I felt a little drop of blood form.

"You are never to go down that hallway, do you understand me? Never, under any circumstances!"

"Of course, ma'am! I'm sorry I mentioned it!" I said, and she left, right after giving me a threatening look. I looked back over at Draco, who was still watching her with that angry gaze that he seemed to give everyone except for me, and his mother. When he finally looked back to me, I gave him a smile that melted that hard gaze just a bit.

"Crazy bitch." He mouthed to me, which made me smile. I gestured up to my room and mouthed back to him, "One hour," Which he seemed to understand. He walked back up the stairs, maybe just going straight to my room, which made me want to finish that much sooner. So, looking around to make sure I didn't get caught, I pulled out my wand, and waved it to make all this cleaning go just a tiny bit faster.

And sure enough, when I walked into my room, there Draco was. Sitting on my bed. Well, more like lying on my bed. In fact, I think he was purposefully trying to be sexy, which of course wasn't working, because Draco Malfoy is only sexy when he's not trying. Okay, maybe he was a little sexy just then. When he started rubbing the spot next to him with his hand, I laughed. And then caught myself and quickly closed the door, and laughed even louder.

"Draco Malfoy, you always know how to make me laugh." I said to him, coming over to lie next to him.

"If I wasn't here with you through all of this, you might have gone crazy." He said as a joke, no idea how spot on he actually was.

"You got that right." I said, and he sensed the seriousness in my voice. Joking time was over. "Draco, even with you here, I won't be able to stand this much longer. I know it's only been for the summer, but I know it's going to be much, much longer until I get out of here." He scooted closer to me so we could cuddle. It was comforting.

"I know. Hell, I've lived here my whole life, and I always seem to be suffocating in this monster of a house." Then, he noticed the cut on my neck from before, and lightly touched it. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt." That was a small lie. It did hurt a little bit, but I didn't want to worry him. He seemed to buy it.

"Good."

"DRACO! Are you ready yet? Everyone will be arriving soon! You need to get into your suit, now!" Bellatrix shouted from downstairs. Man, her voice was pretty loud sometimes. Draco and I both looked down at the suit he was wearing, and I smiled at him.

"Doesn't she realize that you're _always _in a suit?" I said, and he laughed.

"I wear normal clothes, too!"

"Oh please! We may not have been dating for more than a few months, but I've been going to school with you for almost seven years now. I've only ever seen you wear Slytherin robes, and suits. Even on the weekends, just suits. Around your own house, suits. Suits, suits, suits." He chuckled, and scooted ever closer.

"Maybe I'll have to prove you wrong." He said in a deep, breathy voice. Just as we were about to start kissing, that crazy bitch had to go and ruin it.

"Draco! Hurry up!"

Draco sighed in a frustrated way, and got off the bed.

"Why don't you come and see me after the meeting? We can talk… and stuff." I said, and wagged my eyebrows at him. He chuckled, his mood lightened a bit.

"I'll be there." But as he backed out of the room, I saw his smile fade a bit.

…

Draco POV

As I walked down the stairs, dread filled me. I always hated these meetings, but I had no choice but to attend. I always made sure to put on a brave face for Talia, but the truth was, all this stuff scared me just as much as it scared her. Before, when we were joking about how she's go crazy without me, I couldn't help but think it would be the other way around, too. I don't think I could survive without knowing that she'd be there for me to talk to at the end of the day, but I also wished she was anywhere but here.

As I walked over to my seat at the table, right next to my parents, I noticed that everyone else was already there. Well, almost everyone. Snape hadn't arrived yet. And while we all waited for him, it was so silent in that room that you could've heard a pin drop. It was way awkward. I kept my head down, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes, and thought of Talia. And that's when, weirdly, The Dark Lord started to talk about her.

"So tell me, Mrs. Malfoy, how is our dear siren doing? I was very pleased with her when we displayed her. Has she made any progress?" He asked my mother, and I looked up at him, my ears practically steaming. How dare he talk about her like that? Like she was just some prized dog that needed to be "displayed". Not thinking, I tensed up, ready to voice these thoughts. But, as always, my mother sensed how I was feeling, and grabbed my hand from under the table.

"She has, my lord. I'm pleased to report that she is ready for anything you have planned for her." I looked to my mother with surprise, horrified that she was going along with these plans for Talia. But when I saw the look in her eyes, I realized that she had no choice. She didn't want Talia involved in all of this any more than I did, but there was no getting her out of it. It would take a miracle.

"Good. Very good." The Dark Lord said, and I didn't like the look in his eyes. Just then we heard the front door open, as a group, turned our heads to the door to the dining room. When Snape walked in, I realized I hadn't seen him since that last night at Hogwarts. I would never admit this to anyone besides Talia, but I would always be grateful for what he did on top of the Astronomy Tower. Obviously I didn't want Dumbledore to die, but I also didn't want to be the one to kill him. Honestly, I don't think I could've done it.

"Severus. I was beginning to think you'd lost your way. Come, I've saved you a seat." The Dark Lord said, and Snape took the seat to his left. Just then, I noticed a figure floating above us. I recognized the levitating person, but could not remember where I had seen her before. But as she rotated, and I got a better view of her face, I found that it was Professor Burbage, the Muggle Studies teacher at school. "You know our hosts, of course, Severus. Narcissa in particular has been most hospitable. Lucius, on the other hand, I fear, is burdened by my presence. Are you, Lucius?" My father looked up from his lap for the first time, and acted as if he hadn't heard. But I knew he had.

"My Lord?" He said.

"Are you burdened?" The Dark Lord asked him again, and I could tell he already knew the answer.

"My Lord is always welcome here." My mother said for my father, with a polite smile on her face. Satisfied, The Dark Lord turned back to Snape.

"You bring news I trust, Severus?" Snape gave a single nod.

"It will happen Saturday next, at nightfall." He said in that long, drawling voice of his.

"And this information comes from…?"

"From the source we discussed, My Lord." Another Death Eater, Yaxley, I believed his name was, leaned forward, switching our attention to him.

"I have heard differently, My Lord. Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that the Potter boy will not be moved until the thirteenth of this month, the night before he turns seventeen."

"This is a false trail." Snape said, silencing Yaxley. "The Auror office no longer plays any part in the protection of Harry Potter. Those closest to him believe we have infiltrated the Ministry." Then a fat little man started cackling.

"Well, they've got that right, then, 'aven't they?" and everyone joined in his cackling. Everyone except me and my parents. Even The Dark Lord let a smile crack his face, but then he suddenly turned to a small, thin man who had apparently spoken, but was stifled by the laughter.

"What did you say, Pius?" So _that _was the infamous Pius Thicknesse, the man who was The Dark Lord's new Minister of Magic.

"One hears many things, My Lord. Whether the truth is among them is not clear." He said, and it seemed to amuse The Dark Lord.

"Spoken like a true politician. You will, I think, prove most useful, Pius." Once again, the attention was moved back to Snape. "Where will he be taken? The boy?"

"To a safe house, likely the home of someone in the Order. I'm told it has been given every manner of protection possible. Once there, it will be impractical to attack him." Snape said, not caring if it was what The Dark Lord wanting to hear or not. "WE may have compromised the Ministry, but there are those who are still loyal to him. As long as the Ministry stands, his allies within will have the means at their disposal to insure his safety." Bellatrix quickly sat up straighter.

"My Lord, if I might, I'd like to volunteer myself for this task. I'd like to kill the boy." She was cut short by an agonized wail coming from somewhere beneath us. It was quite loud, and I wondered if Talia heard it. I hope it didn't scare her too much.

"Wormtail! Have I not spoken to you about keeping our guest quiet?" The Dark Lord shouted at Pettigrew, who had been cowering in the corner this whole time. I wondered how he had gotten that nickname, but it seemed to fit him quite accurately.

"Y-yes, My Lord. Right away, My Lord." He stammered, and then left the room. The Dark Lord turned back to Bellatrix.

"As inspiring as I find your bloodlust, Bellatrix, I must be the one to kill Harry Potter. But I face an unfortunate complication. It had recently come to my attention that my wand and Potter's share the same core." Two wands having the same core? I didn't think that that ever happened. "They are, in some ways, twins. We can wound, but not fatally harm one another. Which means, if I am to kill him… I will have to do it with another's wand." Everyone stirred uncomfortably, not wanting their wands to be taken from them. His eyes narrowed. "Come, now. Surely one of you would like the honor? What about you… Lucius?" Somehow, I wasn't surprised. My father was basically useless to the Dark Lord these days, so he might as well use his wand. "I require your wand." My father handed over his wand, and the Dark Lord studied it for a few minutes. As he turned it, the light caught the emerald eye of the snake's head that occupied the top of the wand. As much as I loathed my father, I had always appreciated the beauty of that piece of his wand. "Do I detect elm?"

"Yes, My Lord." My father spoke for the first time.

"And the core?"

"Dragon Heartstring." I noticed he gave up the 'My Lord' crap. Good. The dark Lord continued to study the wand for a few more moments, and then he suddenly snapped the snake head right off. I balled my hands into fists, carefully keeping my mouth shut, though my mind was screaming, "You son of a bitch! Don't you know how valuable that is?!" He dropped it to the floor, treating it like a piece of lint he had found on his robes. His attention suddenly moved to the floating professor above us, and with a flick of his new wand, she started to move.

"For those of you who don't know, we are joined tonight by Miss Charity Burbage, who until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her specialty was Muggle Studies. It is her belief that Muggles are not so different from us. She would, given her way, have us mate with them. To her, the mixture of magical and Muggle blood is not an abomination, but something to be encouraged. I, of course, take a contrary view." Her face turned towards Snape, and I noticed that her cheeks were tear-stained.

"Severus, please… we're friends…" I watched a tear fall and hit the table, and felt a pang of sympathy. I wished I could help her.

"Avada Kedavra!" I heard the familiar words and saw the green light, and suddenly there was a lifeless, stiff body right in front of me. It surprised me, and I had to stifle a gasp. He had murdered her! In cold blood! Later on I came to my senses and remembered that all he had was cold blood. But just then, I was cold, and numb to everything else except for the dead body right in front of my eyes. I couldn't move, and couldn't look away, not even when The Dark Lord set his evil snake on the empty body. I was slightly aware that my mother had gotten me to stand up and walk out of the room, but even when we left I couldn't stop thinking about it. She led me up the stairs, and once we were out of sight of everyone else, pulled me into a warm hug.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that." She whispered. I couldn't find my voice, so I just hugged her tighter. "I have to get back downstairs. I shouldn't have left, but I had to get you out of there." She kissed my forehead before she left, and then I turned to head to my room. But then I realized that the hall ways she took me to didn't lead to my room, but Talia's, and I remembered that I had said I'd come by after the meeting. Not wanting to burden her, I tried my best to put on a normal face, hoping that she wouldn't suspect the turmoil within me.

As always, she was able to see right through me.

…

Talia POV

I had changed into a very cute, very tiny little night gown for when Draco turned up, because I had decided that this whole No-Sex-In-The-Same-House-As-Voldemort thing was getting really frustrating. The way I figured, as long as we were careful, all was good. I should've realized, however, that this meeting was going to be a little longer than I thought, and I had accidentally fallen asleep while reading a book in bed. I awoke to the light being turned on, which startled me a little, but I relaxed when I saw it was Draco. He, however, looked a little upset at the thought of having woken me up.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I can come back in the morning." He said, and began to leave.

"Don't you dare leave this room, Draco Malfoy. As you can see, I'm wide awake, and not at all upset about it." As he came all the way in and closed the door, I posed my body to show off my cute little outfit. "You like?" he smiled, but it wasn't quite as big as his usual smile.

"I really like. But what happened to the No-Sex thing?"

"I changed my mind. Do you have a problem with that?" I asked, pulling my robe a bit more closed. He walked toward me until he was only inches away from me.

"Do I look like I have a problem with that?" He said, and started to kiss my neck. And that's when I realized that something was really wrong. So I pushed him back a bit.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong, Malfoy?" He looked like he was trying to look confused.

"What do you mean? I was just kissing your neck."

"Exactly. You always kiss my lips first. And that smile you gave me was a little phony. What gives?" When I saw how his face transformed, I realized it was a little more serious than I thought. "Draco, what is it?" I said, my voice softer this time. He tried to speak, but his voice caught in his throat, and a traitorous tear escaped from his eye. I pulled him toward the bed and laid him down, and scooted next to him, but laid on my side so I could look at him. It took him a few minutes to find his voice, but then he also turned on his side.

"They're going to attack Harry." He told me, which made me catch my breath.

"What?" I asked, needing him to explain.

"Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They know that Harry is being moved to a safe house before his birthday, and they're planning an attack on him. Voldemort even took my dad's wand, because apparently his and Harry's have the same core, and that prevents him from being able to kill him." I nodded. I remember Harry telling me about what Ollivander told him, seven years ago.

"I can't believe this! We have to warn him!" I said, and jumped up and started pacing, looking around for something I could do. And all the while, I was muttering about sending notes and patronuses, and I probably looked quite insane. "What are you just sitting there for? We have to do something!" He got up, but it wasn't to brainstorm with me. He placed his hands on both of my arms, stopping my pacing.

"What can we do?" He said, looking into my eyes. My body relaxed, and I knew he was right. "We're both trapped here. We can't do anything but hope he'll be alright."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry." I said, and we went back to lying on the bed.

"Hell, he's Harry Potter! He's been through worse than this! _And_ he's already faced The Dark Lord, like, four times already, right? Trust me, he'll be okay." I smiled at his confidence in my best friend. But studying his face more, I realized that there was something else going on.

"There's something else. Why won't you tell me?"

"I already told you, it's Harry—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know about Harry. But I can tell that you're keeping something else from me, so spill." I said, but kept my voice soft, because I could tell this was bothering him. But it wasn't until I saw how shaky his hands were that I realized just how much. Once again, I waited for him to be ready to tell me.

"You remember Professor Burbage? From Hogwarts?" He said after a while, and I nodded.

"She was the Muggle Studies teacher. She's brilliant."

"She was here tonight." That shocked me.

"You mean…?"

"Not as a Death Eater. As his prisoner."

"Bloody Hell. Is he keeping her hostage or something?" He shook his head, which confused me.

"He killed her." He whispered. I covered my mouth, horror struck at what he was saying, and all of a sudden it was like a well broke inside of him, and he continued. "He used the killing curse on her, and she fell to the table, right in front of me, and I couldn't look away… she was so still… and cold… and I still couldn't look away… not even when Nagini started to…" And then he lost it. He wasn't exactly crying, but he was definitely hyperventilating. And after I pulled him into a hug, all I could do was run my fingers through his hair until he calmed down. It brought me back to our fourth year at school, when Harry watched Cedric Diggory die. He had acted the same way, and I had had to start singing to calm him down. So, this time, I started to hum a nice, soft tune, and Draco's sobs slowly faded into slow breathing. Actually, I thought he was sleeping at first, but then he spoke.

"That was embarrassing."

"We've all been there, trust me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. That was perfectly understandable." I got up, and giggled at the lost little puppy look on his face.

"Where are you going? I still need comforting!" He said and started to pout.

"Oh, I know you do. Which is why I'm going to the stash of liquor I took from Blaise's that I keep in the bathroom." I said, and made my way toward the bathroom. But I paused, something outside the window catching my eye. I saw something moving outside, but when I went to look closer, nothing was there.

"What the hell?" I said to myself, and Draco got up to come look with me.

"What is it?" He asked me.

"I swear I saw something moving outside. It almost looked like… a person."

"Maybe it was just your reflection."

"No, it wasn't. Someone was in the tree, looking in the window. I swear."

"Well, that's creepy." We looked out the window some more, and when it was decided that whatever was there was gone, we went to the liquor stash and got drunk and passed out in bed. All in all, it was a good night.


	28. Chapter 28

**The First of Many Reunions**

It was almost Harry's birthday. And I was freaking out, because I hadn't heard anything about him. Draco said he'd tell me if he heard anything, which so far, was nothing. Apparently he was Death Eater enough to go to the meetings, but when it came to secret Harry Potter ambushes he was totally out of the loop. But to be honest, I was a little grateful for that, because if he was _in _the loop, that would mean he was actually going on the mission. And I knew he could handle himself, but it was still dangerous.

I was in the middle of cleaning the floor, like sweeping and mopping and stuff, when I saw Bellatrix, Narcissa, Draco, and a few other Death Eaters enter the dining room for lunch. Draco saw me and gave me a tiny head nod, which meant he was finally going to learn something. I was so excited that once they were all in out of the room, I took out my wand and finished everything with a flick of my wrist. I ran up to my room, and started pacing until Draco finally walked through my door, with a strange expression on his face. It was relieved, but also a little… something else.

"Well? Did you learn anything?" I asked him, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I did. And most of it is good."

"Harry's alive?" I asked, hopeful.

"Harry is alive." I was so relieved at his words that I sagged down to the floor. I'd had no idea how much I was tensing up until that point. He followed me to the floor, and then went on.

"There's more." He said.

"Shit. What is it?"

"Well, there were a lot of people. Apparently, they decided to have 6 of Harry's friends take some Polyjuice Potion, and all take different routes to the safe house."

"Oh, I bet Harry wasn't too keen on that idea." I said, and Draco chuckled and then continued.

"Anyway, the seven Harrys all went with other people who weren't turned into Harry. And one of the Harry's was with that ex-auror, Mad-Eye Moody? The one who was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher fourth year?" He asked, and I gave a small laugh.

"Remind me to tell you that story sometime."

"What?"

"Never mind. What about Moody?"

"Well, the Harry that was with him bolted at the first sign of danger, and one of the Death Eaters killed Moody."

"Oh no." I said. I couldn't believe Moody was dead; he was the toughest of all of us. "Did anyone else die?"

"No. Well, not any people, anyway." What?

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, they were able to find the _real _Harry because his owl tried to fend them off him. They killed the owl."

"Shit! Hedwig!" I said. This was so fricken depressing. Next, he was going to tell me they kicked some puppies, I swear.

"And there's one more thing."

"Oh, give me a break." I said, not wanting to hear about any more deaths.

"Don't worry, no one else died. But someone did lose an ear."

"What? An ear?"

"Yeah, someone cursed off someone else's ear."

"Oh man. I bet Fred and George are having a field day of jokes about that." And then I remembered something else he said. "Wait, did you say they found the real Harry? What happened?"

"Well, The Dark Lord got to him and tried to kill him—"

"_What?!_"

"Will you just let me finish?"

"Okay, sorry, go ahead." I said, freaked. I couldn't believe Harry faced Voldemort again.

"Okay. Harry and Voldemort faced off, but something went wrong. Harry won, because there was something wrong with Voldemort's wand."

"You mean your father's wand?"

"Yeah! It's like, no matter what wand he uses, Harry's wand is always going to win."

"That's good news."

"Yeah." He kissed me, and then stood up. "I shouldn't stay long, but I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay."

…

Draco POV

I left Talia's room in a good mood. I just hoped that no one did anything to screw it up. I went downstairs because Bellatrix had wanted me to do something for her, which was never something I actually wanted to do, and found her in a little bit of a hurry.

"Aunt Bella, what is it you wanted—" I started, but she cut me off. Rude.

"Not now, Draco. I'm in the middle of something. Why don't you go back up to your room and read a book or something?" Is that all she thought I did?

"Uh, well, okay then…" But she had already started down that hallway that she had yelled at Talia about before, and my curiosity started to burn. I had obviously been down that hallway before, but not since she moved in here. She had forbidden any of us to go down there, like she had any authority at all in this house. So, naturally, I followed her. As I passed a window, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. It looked like a person running into the trees, but when I stopped to look, it was gone. Was that what Talia had seen outside her window? Whatever, I had to get back to following Bellatrix, or I would lose her.

She walked almost to the end of the hallway, where for some reason we had some small suites. Why was our house so goddamn big, anyway? It was maybe five minutes, and then she stopped outside a door. I wondered why, when her room was in a completely different wing of the house, but then I saw the light coming from the crack under the door. There was already someone in there. She opened the door slowly, and spoke to whoever was inside.

"Let's start from where we left off yesterday, shall we?" And she stepped inside and closed the door. What was that about? I heard some voices, sometimes raised, sometimes just mumble. And then about twenty minutes later, she emerged, looking unhappy. I waited until she was completely out of sight, and then went up to the door. I paused before going in, not sure if I wanted to know what (or who) was on the other side.

But when I did, I was utterly surprised.

…

Talia POV

I was sitting on my bed, reading as usual, and the sun was setting. I was in my bra and underwear, because I had taken a shower a bit earlier, and not bothered to put on pajamas. I almost fell off the bed in surprise when Draco barged in, unexpectedly, with a huge grin on his face.

"What the hell—" I began, but he ran over and grabbed me, cutting me off.

"Don't have time—have to hurry—hurry up." Was what he said, and then he started pulling me toward the door.

"Draco, stop! I'm _so _not walking through the manor wearing this!" He looked at what I was wearing, and paused to appreciate it for just a second. And then was back to being excited.

"Well then throw some clothes on, and hurry up! I have to show you something!" And then he started hopping in place while I changed into a more comfortable bra. "No no, you should keep that one on." He said, suggestively, his eyes burning. I smiled, and did as he wished. He resumed his hopping as I threw on some jeans and a long sleeved shirt, one of those ones with the little thumb holes. I ran a brush through my hair, and then Draco must have assumed that I was done because he started to drag me by the hand out the door again.

When we got about halfway down the stairs, of course, we had to slow down and I stayed behind him. There was no one around, but it was always good to be safe. I paused when I saw where he was leading me, and he kept going a few steps before he realized I wasn't following.

"Come on, it's okay. No one's around." He said, coming back for me.

"But, Bellatrix said…"

"Forget what she said. Trust me, this is worth it."

"But—"

"Just trust me!" It took me a few minutes, but I nodded and, reluctantly, followed him. I would always follow him. We went all the way to the end, and came to a stop in front of a door with light coming through the bottom. Why would someone be living all the way down here?

"Okay, what is this all about?"

"You'll find out in a second, just go in."

"What will I find?" I asked, nervous. He seemed pretty excited about this, but I was feeling a little apprehensive. He didn't answer me. Instead, he opened the door for me, and gently nudged me through. I looked around the warm room, lit by a fire in the fireplace, to see two people sitting on the couch in front of it. I was so incredibly confused, until they turned to face me. Right at that moment, when I saw their eyes and the tears forming in them, I knew exactly who they were.

"Mum? Dad?" I asked, although I didn't need to. I was already moving quickly over to them, where we hugged each other like we've never hugged before. "Mommy. Papa. I missed you." I said to them, in between sobs. I was finding it hard to breathe; it felt like I'd had the wind knocked out of me.

"We missed you too, baby." My mum said, which made me cry even harder. We had somehow made our way to the couch and were all sitting down, though still talking. My dad was stroking my hair, trying to soothe me. It worked. Pretty soon, we were talking, and laughing, and I was happier than I'd ever been. Well, right before getting together with Draco, of course. This reminded me that he was still in the room, and I looked over to him.

"Draco, come sit down!" I said, and my parents looked over to him.

"And who is this young man we've completely ignored?" My dad said, and I smiled shyly.

"My boyfriend, Papa. We've been seeing each other since sometime last fall." My dad gave Draco a very stern look, and he started to back out of the doorway a little nervously.

"Actually, I think I'll just let you guys catch up by yourselves—" He started.

"Draco Malfoy, come sit down." I said, giving him no choice.

"That's my girl." I heard my mom whisper to me, and I smiled at her. Draco sat next to me, and I looped my arms through his.

"I should've known you were a Malfoy. You look just like your father. Just happier." My father said to him, and then Draco got a little uncomfortable.

"He's not like his father at all, honest."

"Oh, I can already see that. The fact that he's with my daughter proves it." He said, and I patted his shoulder.

"If Talia loves you, then we do too, Draco." My mother said, and Draco relaxed. My father got up to use the lavatory, and I took the opportunity I'd been hoping for for years.

"Okay, mum, spill." I asked her, which understandably confused her.

"Spill about what, dear?" She asked me. I gave her a deadpan look.

"Sirius Black? Remus Lupin? I know about how you… _knew _them." She looked surprised, once she caught on.

"How on earth do you know that?"

"They told me. Or, at least, their faces told me. The way they looked when I talked about you."

"You talked to Sirius? I thought he was in prison."

"He broke out when we were in our third year at Hogwarts. And then Harry and I worked our bums off to clear his name."

"Harry?"

"Harry Potter. He's one of my best friends."

"Oh, I'm so glad!"

"Don't change the subject, mum! Tell me about Lupin and Sirius!" I yelled, not letting her avoid the subject. Filled with defeat, she spilled the figurative beans.

"Well, yes, I did have brief… intimate occasions with the both of them. Before I was with your father, of course. And I would appreciate it if you didn't tell him this; I've worked very hard to keep this to myself."

"Mum's the word, mum." I said, giggling at my joke, which made Draco laugh at me, which made my mum smile at the two of us.

"How serious are you two? Or is that not my information?" She asked, and I scooted closer to her.

"Are you kidding? I've been dying to be able to talk to you about sex ever since I had it for the first time!" I said, hoping she wouldn't disapprove of me. She only smiled.

"So you _have _had your first time. I'm so happy for you two!" She said, and I gave a nervous laugh. "What?"

"My first time was with Draco, mum." Now she looked a little nervous, but she asked anyway.

"Then who was it with?"

"Blaise Zabini, his best friend." I said quickly. I knew Draco didn't have a problem with me talking about it. My mom looked at me with a strange expression. It looked like… pride.

"I know I should be upset that my daughter has already had sex with more than one person, but I'm really just dying to ask how it was." She said, which made me laugh.

"It was _so _good. Not as amazing as Draco, of course, but still good."

"Oh, how you take after your mother." She said, and I hugged her.

"That's what Sirius said. I blame it on growing up so close to Fred Weasley. He was a horrible influence on me, but I still love him."

"You grew up with the Weasleys?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did."

"I'm so glad. They're amazing people." That when my dad walked back in, and we started catching up once more. No more sex talk, of course. That would be much too uncomfortable

"Who are amazing people?" He asked.

"Talia was just telling me how she was raised by the Weasleys! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Very wonderful."

"And she told me how she's been in contact with Remus and Sirius, as well."

"Even better! All that's missing is James and Lily." He said, a little sad.

"Well, if it helps, I've been best friends with their son, Harry, from our first ride on the Hogwarts Express."

"That does help. What's he like?" My dad asked, and I smiled.

"Just like his dad, everyone says. But he has his mother's eyes."

"She had such wonderful eyes." There was a moment where it was silent, so I took the opportunity to make things serious for a minute.

"Where have you guys been? And why are you here, at Malfoy Manor?" I asked them. My dad cocked an eyebrow.

"We could ask you the same question."

"I asked you first!" I said, smiling a little. My mum was the one to answer me.

"Bellatrix has been keeping us prisoner ever since they came to our house all those years ago. For the longest time, all she wanted to know is where our other daughter was. But recently, it's been more about how to control you."

"Which brings us to: why are _you _here?" My dad asked, and I sagged back in the couch a little bit.

"Well, it's a funny story, really. Turns out I'm a prisoner here, too!" They stared at me with these horrified looks, so I went on. "They found me at Hogwarts. They know what I am, and they're using me in this awful war. The only good thing is that because of them, I've learned how to control it. And I know they think I'm going to cooperate, but they're wrong. The minute this war starts, I'm running to the other side." They looked at me with such pride, it brought tears to my eyes.

After a few hours, we were having such a good time that I almost didn't hear Bellatrix yelling for me from somewhere in the Manor. I shot up, panicking, but also depressed that this had to be cut short.

"I have to go. She can't find me here." I said, and Draco followed me to the door.

"Wait, Talia. Here, take this." My mother said, and handed me the bracelet she had been wearing on her wrist. I thought it looked like a child had made it, and that thought was confirmed when my mother continued. "Your sister, Kayla, made it for me the day she was killed. I've worn it every day since. But I want to you have it." She put it on my wrist, and I vowed to follow her idea and wear it every day for the rest of my life. With one last hug, Draco and I departed.

But no matter what, nothing could dampen this new good mood I had. Not even doing the Crazy Bitch's dirty work. I had my parents back!

**A.N. Just so you know, I'm aware that I said "Mommy" in this chapter. I felt weird saying "Mummy". But I know that British people don't say it! It was deliberate!**

**Also, I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. I was too lazy to embelish.**


	29. Chapter 29

**The Creeper**

"Willow, Phoenix feather core, and twelve and three-fourths inches." I said, while my mum was admiring my wand. It was three months after I had found them in the Manor, and we still had so much to catch up on.

"It's wonderful. You know, it's very similar to my wand: Birch, Phoenix feather core, twelve inches. Your father's is Holly, Unicorn hair, ten inches."

"Whoa. That's so cool." I said.

"So, tell me more about school? What house were you sorted into?"

"Gryffindor of course!"

"Just like your father."

"What? You weren't in Gryffindor too? I always thought…" She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.

"Naw, I was only a mere Ravenclaw. Nothing compared to the fearless Gryffindors!" She joked, but I just looked at her.

"Only a Ravenclaw? Come on now. One of my best friends, Luna Lovegood, is a Ravenclaw, and she's brilliant. Not to mention one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, even if she is a little strange…" I trailed off, but my mother just laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure she is. If she's anything like her father, she's _very _strange. But if she's anything like her mother, she's also incredibly nice."

"Where is dad, anyway?" I asked, and she looked a little weird about it.

"Bellatrix has him running some errands for her."

"Why, that's not at all surprising." I said, sarcastically.

"Oh, he'll be okay. I want to hear more about you! What was it like living with the Weasleys?" She asked me.

"It was wonderful. They all treated me as if I was just another Weasley." I said with a warm smile.

"I'm so glad you were able to live with people who you were already close with." I nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Especially the Twins. For so long, they were the only ones who could take my nightmares away. I'd just crawl into bed with one of them, and I'd magically be able to sleep. Of course, once we all started getting a little older, that started to not be an option." I said, laughing. She laughed too. "But now I have Malfoy. Surprisingly." She looked really happy for me. "And of course, being friends with Harry Potter, school has been eventful. I've saved his ass so many times." And we both started to laugh again. I really loved having my mum back. I was just telling her about the Tri Wizard Tournament when Narcissa came into the room.

"Talia, darling, I'm afraid you'll have to continue this tomorrow. My sister has just gotten back." She said, and I jumped up and pulled her inside more.

"Narcissa, I would like you to meet my mother, Melissa." They shook hands, but then they hugged, which was nice.

"It's so nice to finally meet you! Thank you so much for taking care of my daughter while she's been here." My mum said, and Narcissa waved her off.

"Oh, it was no trouble. If my son loves her, it's reason enough for me to love her. I was so happy when she told me about finding you here. I had no idea Bella was keeping you guys here, honest. I would not have allowed it."

"I believe you!" They both grabbed my hands, and then Narcissa reminded me that we had to go.

"I'll come back as soon as possible, okay?" I said, hugging my mother. She nodded.

"I love you."

As we walked down the hallway, carefully, since Bellatrix could be on her way down it, Narcissa got down to business.

"Talia, I'm afraid we have something to discuss that has to do with Draco…"

…

I was on my way to the stables later that day, with my bag full of stuff. When Narcissa had told me her little secret earlier, I had immediately started to hatch a plan in my mind. I had been afraid that someone would catch me when I was out there, but Narcissa had assured me that none of the Death Eaters go anywhere near the stables. I was being very sneaky, watching out for Bellatrix so I wouldn't get caught. But as I was almost out of the glass doors in the kitchen that open out to the back yard, I heard her shrill, biting voice intruding on my silence.

"What do you think you're doing?" I turned to her and tried to out on my best innocent look.

"Mrs. Malfoy asked me to spend the day cleaning out the stables. She said they're disgusting, and she wants a better, cleaner environment for her son's horses." I said, silently daring her to challenge me.

"How do I know you're not lying to me?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

"You can ask Mrs. Malfoy yourself, Ma'am." I said, accidentally saying the word "ma'am" with a little too much harshness. But I don't think she noticed, as Narcissa just so happened to walk into the kitchen at that moment. Ah, fate, you're a wonderful thing. She looked at me with fake anger.

"Miss Jackson, what on earth are you still doing in here? At this rate, it will take you _two _days to clean the stables." And of course, as always, Bellatrix took no blame for herself.

"Well, you heard her! Get to the stables!" she said to me, and I smiled internally. With one look at Narcissa's eyes, I could tell she was feeling the same.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy. I'm on my way." And I left. I was walking down the path, through the chilly air, taking my time to smell all the pretty flowers. As winter would be arriving soon, I knew they wouldn't be there much longer. Even if Narcissa didn't plant all these flowers herself, I know she picked all the plants and where everything would go. She loved this garden, and sometimes from Draco's bedroom window I could see her walking along the path, admiring it. I was just about to open the doors to the stables when I saw something out of the corner of my eye again. But also like last time, when I turned to look, there was nothing there. This was starting to get super creepy; it was like someone was following me. But when I heard the call of a horse, I forgot about the stalker and opened the doors.

I had never been in here before, and I immediately wished that wasn't true. There were four horses, all a different color, and I made a mental note to myself to ask Draco about their names. And then I got to work. I really did need to clean up in here, but for different reasons than Bellatrix thought. I strung up lights and set up candles, but then stopped as I realized I forgot one of the most important things: putting up magical barriers around the stables. So I did, and I added an extra barrier that would keep it warm in there, as the nights were getting colder. As long as no one crossed over the threshold, all they would see was me cleaning. And trust me, once Draco got here, cleaning was one thing we would _not _be doing. As I slipped into a very cute, very short sun dress, I heard someone walking down the path, and decided to hide behind one of the horses. I wanted him to see how I decorated the place before he saw me. I heard the door open, and for a second I got scared that it wasn't actually Draco. What would happen if it turned out to be Bellatrix, or another Death Eater, or even Greyback?

But when I saw his familiar white hair pass my hiding place, I knew it was Draco. I very quietly slipped out from behind the horse and snuck up behind him, and I wrapped my hands around his waist. He tensed for just a second, and I thought to myself, "Who else would walk up behind you and hug you?" But after a second he relaxed, and grabbed my hands.

"Hey there," I whispered in his ear. He chuckled.

"What's all this for?" He asked me. I spun him around so we were facing each other.

"It's a celebration, silly," I told him, and he got even more confused. Honestly, this guy was more thick than Ronald sometimes.

"What are we celebrating?" He asked, and I gave him a look that I hope said how dumb he was being.

"Really?" I asked him, and he shook his head, still not getting it. I waited a few seconds, and then I smacked his shoulder. "I can't believe you didn't tell me your birthday was at the beginning of June! It's been _months!_" Understanding filled his eyes, and he suddenly looked a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, yeah. Well, I just thought that with everything going at, it wasn't that important." He explained, but that wasn't good enough for me.

"But we celebrated my birthday!" I said.

"That's different! You were suffocating in that house, with Bellatrix making you do all that shit, and The Dark Lord pressuring you and all, you needed it!"

"You need it too, Malfoy. For the same reason I needed it. Just because you're used to all this, doesn't mean it's easier on you. Every time I look at you, you look sad, and tired, and broken. You think I don't notice, but I do, Malfoy." I said.

"Shit, you used my last name. I better go along with this." He said, a smile breaking his sharp face, and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Absolutely. If you'll follow me, Mr. Malfoy, to this adorable little bed I've put together…"

"Ooh, a bed? Maybe I _should_ have told you about my birthday earlier." He said suggestively.

"Oh please. Sex isn't the only thing we're going to do." We sat down.

"Oh, really? What else is there to do, then?"

"Well first, you need to tell me the names of all these horses. I'd really like to ride them while I'm stuck here."

"The white one is Shadowfax, the brown one is Brego, the grey one is Snowmane, and the black one is Stybba." I looked at him with utter shock.

"Those are all horses in the Lord of the Rings movies. Except for Snowmane and Stybba, which are names you would only know if you'd read the books." I said to him.

"Technically, Stybba was a pony."

There were a few moments of silence, and then I spoke, "That is so hot." And I crawled on top of him and we had sex.

…

"If I knew you found my nerdiness sexy, I'd say nerdy things more often." Draco said to me after we finished.

"I wouldn't mind that."

"So, I'm all for lying here forever, but I thought you wanted to do other things besides each other." He said, chuckling a little as his joke, which made me laugh.

"You're right." I whipped out my wand and yelled the summoning charm, and his purple acoustic guitar zoomed to me from its hiding place in Snowmane's stable.

"My guitar?" He said, grabbing it from me.

"Yeah. I found the room all your music stuff in it, and I picked out my favorite of your guitars."

"Is it your favorite because it's purple?" He asked me.

"You know me so well." He started strumming on his guitar, and as always I was amazed at how natural he was at it. And also as always, he fell into a song that I was familiar with. It had been such a long time.

_Sweet love, sweet love, trapped in your love_

_I've opened up, unsure I can trust_

_My heart and I were buried in dust_

_Free me, free us_

_You're all I need when I'm holding you tight_

_If you walk away, I will suffer tonight_

_I found a man I can trust and boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can you see that I'm bound in chains?_

_I've finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to you_

_So much, so young, I've faced on my own_

_Walls I built up became my home_

_I'm strong and I'm sure there's a fire in us_

_Sweet love, so pure_

_I catch my breath with just one beating heart_

_And I embrace myself, please don't tear this apart_

_I found a man I can trust, and boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can you see that I'm bound in chains?_

_I've finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to…_

_Suddenly the moment's here, I embrace my fears_

_All that I have been carrying, all these years_

_Do I risk it all? Come this far just to fall? Fall_

_I have entrusted, boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can you see that I'm bound in chains?_

_And finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am, ooh I am_

_I'm bound to… you_

"That never gets old." Draco said as we finished the song, and I didn't have to look at his eyes to know that they were glowing. It was the middle of the night, but neither of us felt like sleeping. I wished this night could last forever. For a while it was like I wasn't even a prisoner here, and Draco wasn't a Death Eater, and everything was normal. It was like we were just two people, visiting each other over the summer, having one of the best nights of our lives. But of course, none of that was true.

"Draco, I have to talk to you about something." I said, and he looked concerned.

"What is it?" He asked me. I took a deep breath, and then spoke my mind.

"I have to get out of here. I keep trying to plan escapes, but everything I come up with ends with the Death Eaters finding and killing me. But I'm getting out of here, one way or another." I said, and I expected Draco to be either upset that I was leaving him or upset that I was doing something as dangerous as trying to escape. But really, he just looked… understanding.

"I had a feeling that you were going to say that." He said, looking solemn. I sat up, holding a blanket around me, and grabbed his hand.

"Draco, you could come with me." I said, hopefully. He just shook his head.

"I can't. I would, but it's just not possible."

"Why not?" For an answer, he held out his arm to me, the one with the Dark Mark. I rubbed my thumb around it, but was careful not to actually touch it. This was something that I'd rather the Dark Lord not see.

"This is why not. We have them so we can summon him, but it also works the other way."

"He could use it to summon you back?"

"Yep. And then he'd know that I've been unfaithful to him, and he'd kill me. And probably my mother too, because she'd probably take my side." He said, looking sad, and I knew that we both were wishing that this wasn't the case.

"Oh. I see."

"But you still need to get out of here, Talia."

"What about you? I can't just leave you here with these people!"

"You have to! Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself here."

"So can I!" I said, stubbornly crossing my arms. He laughed.

"Of course you can. But you can also get out of here and help your friends kill The Dark Lord. That's more important than staying here with me."

"What about my parents? Can I just leave them?" I asked. I had just gotten them back; I didn't want to lose them again.

"I'll take care of them." I believed him, and I knew that he was right about me needing to get out of there.

"Well, this is great and all, but it's going to take me forever to come up with a good escape plan. I could very well be here for _months._" I said, putting emphasis on the last word. If I didn't plan this exactly right, they'd kill me for sure.

"Lucky me." He said with a smile, and then we started to snog. But then we broke apart and just laid together. "Did you visit your parents again today?" My face lit up.

"I did! Well, just my mum really, because apparently the Crazy Bitch had my dad doing some errands today or something. But it was really great catching up with her. I missed her a lot. And—" I was cut off by a rustling sound coming from outside. I sat up quickly to see a blur of movement just along the side of one of the windows. "Did you see that?" I asked Draco, pointing towards the window.

"No, but I did hear that noise. What do you think it was?" He asked me.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." I said, and got up and headed for the door.

"What are you doing?" Draco said, jumping up after me, pulling on his pants.

"This is the third time I've seen this mysterious something/someone and I have to go out there and find out!" I said, grabbing the doorknob.

"That's fine, but you might want to put something on." He said, and I realized I was completely naked. Draco threw me his white button-up shirt, and I quickly pulled it on and went outside. I looked around, squinting in the dark, and saw some movement out in the trees. Someone was running away from us.

"Oh, no you don't," I mumbled to myself, and chased after them. I had to admit, whoever this was, they were _really _fast. Like, inhumanly fast. I almost couldn't keep up, and I did stumble a few times. But Draco was always behind me, there to help me back up. I was slowly catching up, and I could tell by the long hair that it was a girl we were chasing. But as I stumbled again, I got frustrated. So, when I got back up, I didn't start running again, but I did yell. And by the way the trees shook, and how Draco had to cover his ears, I could tell I had put a little extra Siren mojo into it.

"STOP!" I yelled, and she did. Well, she actually fell to the ground. So I took the opportunity to finally completely catch up to her. But when I was a few feet away, something inside me was screaming to stop. And I did stop, scared for some reason. And when she finally stood up and turned around, I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. I felt like I couldn't breathe, even though I knew I was. Because what I was seeing should've been impossible. And I didn't believe it until I felt my voice whisper one, single word.

"Kayla."


	30. Chapter 30

**The Impossible Miracle**

It was a dream. At least, that's what I thought. Just a dream. I'd had others like it many, many times. Because there was no way this could be real. And as I opened my eyes and saw the wonderful, blue ones of my boyfriend, I could almost fool myself into believing that it never happened. When I became more aware of my surroundings, I realized that we were back in the stables, my head was in Draco's lap, and he was fanning me with some random piece of paper.

"What the hell happened to me?" I asked. He pushed some hair behind my ear.

"You passed out, love." He said, but he had a smile on his face.

"Oh God. That's embarrassing. Thank God no one else saw." He handed me a glass of water, and I gulped it like it was the last glass of water on the planet. "I had the weirdest dream. I mean, I've had plenty of dreams just like it, but this one was so realistic…" I said.

"That's because it was real, Sherlock," Someone from behind me said, and I closed my eyes. Deep down, I knew all along it wasn't a dream, but for some reason my heart couldn't take it. I spent my whole life missing my little sister, I felt like this was too good to actually be happening to me. "Talia—" But I never got to hear what she was going to say, because suddenly I was running over to her and hugging her so hard we fell to the ground, and I never wanted to let go. "Talia, I can't breathe—"

"Oops! I'm sorry!" I said, and let go. I sat up, pulling her with me, so we were sitting cross-legged right in front of each other. I put my hands on her face, and touched her hair, and grabbed her hands. "I can't believe this. How are you here? You're dead." I said.

"Well, obviously I'm not…" She said sarcastically, and I smiled.

"Well, you know what I mean. The last time I saw you, I thought you were dead. You weren't breathing! You were bleeding everywhere…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"I wasn't dead. I was… changing." She said, which confused the shit out of me.

"What do you mean, _changing?_"

"Just so you know, if we weren't already sitting, I'd suggest you take a seat."

"Yeah, yeah, just tell me what you mean." I said impatiently, which for some reason made us both smile. But then she got serious.

"Okay. Well, that night, when we were supposed to be hiding, and I ran out of the cupboard, I wasn't killed. I was attacked by Fenrir Greyback." She said, and at first I didn't quite understand what she meant.

"Yeah, I know that! You were attacked by a Death Eater, apparently Greyback, and you died!"

"No, Talia, you don't understand what I'm saying. I was _attacked _by _Greyback._" I heard Draco gasp from behind me, but my mind still wasn't allowing me to comprehend what she was telling me. Why was I being so stupid? Kayla gave a frustrated sigh. "Talia. I was _bitten._ By _Greyback._" And finally, the wall that was keeping me from understanding broke, and her words bombarded me.

"Oh God." I said, and I think I may have started to cry, just a little bit. I felt Draco's hand rubbing my back, and I was glad he was here with me. "You're… a werewolf?" My face must have looked harsh, because she winced at my words as she nodded.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, so I reached out to her and pulled her to me.

"Oh, Kay, you have nothing to be sorry for. There's nothing wrong with you!" I said, and she cried even harder.

"The only reason I haven't come to you sooner was because I was afraid that you wouldn't love me now that I'm a monster." She cried, which made me cry harder too. We cried like that for a few minutes. Well, it was more like blubbering. When we were both finally able to speak again, I looked her in the eyes.

"Kayla, you are _not _a monster. You're just different. And even if you were a monster, it's not like you're the first one in my life. Remember mum and dad's friend Lupin? And Bill Weasley? They were both attacked by Greyback, too! Bill's not a full-blown werewolf or anything, but he's definitely got some wolf-y qualities. And hell, you wanna talk about monsters? My boyfriend is a Slytherin!" And we both cracked up at that. I looked back to make sure I hadn't offended him or anything, but he seemed to be amused as well.

"A Slytherin? Mum and dad wouldn't like that."

"Not to mention a Malfoy." Her eyes widened.

"A Malfoy? And dad would REALLY hate that."

"Actually, they both seem okay with him." Her eyes widened, and I didn't know why. "What?"

"You mean, they're alive?" She asked, and I realized that of _course _she'd think they were dead.

"Yeah! Actually, they're here, at Malfoy Manor. Draco's Crazy Bitch Aunt Bellatrix is keeping them hostage."

"Why are you here, anyway? You should be in your last year at Hogwarts." I turned a little sheepish, not wanting to tell her. But I had to.

"I'm also sort of a prisoner here. They found out I'm a Siren, so they're planning on using me in this whole war thing. Jokes on them, because I'm on Team Potter." Her eyes widened once again.

"You're friends with Harry Potter?" And I laughed again and hugged her.

"Oh, the things you've missed. Don't worry; we'll catch you up eventually."

"Good. But for now, I just want to know about this boyfriend of yours." She said, and we both turned to look at him. It was really cute, his face turned immediately pink. I patted the spot next to me, and he slowly made his way over and put his arm around me. Kayla smiled.

"So are you guys dating, or are you just shagging, or what?" She asked, and I gaped at her blatancy.

"Bloody hell, Kay, were you raised by a pack of wolves or something?" I said, and we all laughed at my incredibly hilarious joke.

"As a matter of fact, yes, we are sleeping together. AND dating. So what?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Nothing, I just wanted to have some girl talk with my sister." I could've cried. I was having sex-talk with my sister. So of course, I had to ask her the follow up question.

"What about you? Are _you _shagging someone?" She made a face.

"Not at the moment. The last time was awful, so I've been playing it cool for a while." I looked at her with… I'm not really sure what kind of look it was. Surprise, mixed with a little bit of sadness, mixed with some violent anger at whoever gave my sister terrible sex. She looked at me bluntly and pointed at herself. "Raised by wolves." And Draco and I nodded in understanding.

"God, Kayla, I have no idea who you are! You have to tell me about yourself!" I said, and she looked like she was thinking hard about it.

"Well, I was actually raised by wolves, but it's not as stupid as it sounds. We just live in this little village in Scotland. I didn't go to Hogwarts, obviously, because apparently a werewolf going to Hogwarts is frowned upon or something. But there were a few werewolves there who taught me just about everything I'd learn at Hogwarts. I wasn't very good at first, though. I kept blowing things up." I looked at her and smiled. "What?"

"Oh, it's just that I have a friend who you'd get along nicely with. Go on." I said, gesturing to her to finish her story.

"Well, I left them like six months ago so I could travel a little bit, but then something inside me made me track you down and I found you here!"

"I'm so happy you did. Although, I gotta say, that whole stalker thing was getting pretty creepy."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I kept on deciding to come see you, but then I'd chicken out at the last second. And then tonight, I was actually going to do it, but then I saw through the window that you guys were, uh… occupied. So I ran. But you followed me." She yawned, and I noticed for the first time how tired she looked.

"Are you okay? You look pretty worn out." I said, and she gave a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm alright. We werewolves don't get that much sleep this time of month."

"Is it a full moon already?" I said, momentarily panicking.

"It's in a couple days. But don't worry; I've got a year's worth of this potion that lets me stay in my right mind when I'm a wolf."

"Yeah, Lupin takes that stuff. God, he is going to be so happy you're alive. So is Sirius, and all the Weasleys, and… Mum and dad! We have to go tell them! I think the window from their room is around this area…"

"Let's wait until tomorrow! I'm pretty tired. And… nervous. What if they don't love me?" She asked, and I held up the wrist that had the bracelet that she made our mum all those years ago.

"Mum gave this to me after we met. She told me that you made it for her, right before that horrible night happened. She's worn it every day, every year since then. Well, until she gave it to me, that is. I'm pretty sure they'll love you no matter what." She looked hopeful, but still nervous. "That's okay. We can wait until tomorrow. It's not like I can walk into their room in nothing but my boyfriend's shirt, anyway."

…

I woke up with sun on my face, and for a moment was a little scared that we slept too late. It would be way too hard to get back into the Manor this late in the morning. But then, I remembered the events of the night before, and a smile appeared on my face before my eyes even opened. When they did open, I found myself asleep on Draco's chest, and his arm around me. I rolled over onto my back, and he pulled his arm away and rolled over to his other side. Man, that boy slept like a rock. I looked over at Kayla, a few feet away wrapped up in her own blanket and pillow, but wide awake. So I scooted closer to her until we were right next to each other, and was instantly reminded of when we were little and would share a bed when we wanted to stay up late and talk. I think she felt the same way.

"Are you ready to talk to mum and dad?" I asked her, whispering se we didn't wake up Draco. Kayla seemed nervous, but happy.

"I think so. It's been so long since we've been a family." Her eyebrows scrunched up a bit, like she wanted to ask me something but wasn't sure how.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"Who did you live with? I mean, who raised you? I hope it was someone nice."

"I lived with the Weasleys." Her face lit up.

"That's so awesome! I miss those guys." She said.

"You'll see them again, soon. They all miss you too." I hugged her, and then we heard Draco stir.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, groggily.

"Well, you're just so cute when you're sleeping." I said, smiling at him.

"Yeah, and we didn't want to interrupt you're special drooling time." Kayla said, and we both laughed.

"It's gonna be a blast having both of you around, isn't it?" He said sarcastically, but he also looked sort of happy. We both nodded enthusiastically. "Good. And now we all have to go, it's pretty late. We're already going to have to sneak in a window somewhere." I smiled and looked at both of them.

"I know just the window."

…

I knocked on our parents' window, and dad was the one to greet me. Kayla was hiding just around the corner, and Draco was behind me. "Open up!" I mouthed, and he shook his head with a rueful look on his face.

"It only opens from the outside." I heard him say. I rolled my eyes, and struggled to get the window open. After a few seconds of failing, Draco stepped up and pushed it open without any effort. He helped me through the window, because I was wearing the short dress from the night before. When I was through, I straightened up and smoothed my dress, and located my mum on the couch with a book in her hands.

"Hi, sweetheart. Why are you coming through the window?" She asked, with a confused smile.

"Well, yesterday Narcissa told me that Draco had "Forgotten" to mention his birthday was a few months ago, so we snuck out and had a little celebration last night. By the way, dad, remind me to tell you about Draco's horses later. They're beautiful." I said.

"Why can't you tell me now? And why is he waiting outside?" My dad asked, and I smiled.

"Because I have something more important to tell you. Last night, Draco and I met someone who you really need to see." And Draco helped Kayla through the window. She stumbled a little bit, but I caught her. When she looked up at our parents, I saw immediate recognition in their eyes. That, and the same disbelief that I felt.

"Um, hey, mum and dad—" She was cut off by their crashing hugs, and sobs of relief.

"I knew it. I knew you were alive, I felt it. Your father didn't think so" Mum said, and I started to cry. She gave dad a sharp look.

"That's not true! I simply said it was unlikely—" He said, but mum interrupted him.

"She was attacked by Greyback, Sean! It was extremely likely!"

"I'm so sorry, Kayla, I should've believed—"

"My baby girl—" All at the same time, they grabbed me and pulled me into the hug, and I immediately gave into it. This felt amazing, we were a family again! I looked over Kayla's shoulder to see Draco smiling at us, so I reached over and yanked his arm and forced him into the hug.

Later, when we were all either on the couch or sitting in front of it, we were all catching up as a family.

"So, does this mean you're a werewolf?" My mum asked her.

"Yes, it does. But don't worry about me or anything, I'm totally fine. I'm in complete control, and I have enough potion to last me for a year. The people who raised me really helped me get a handle on all this. They even took me to get a wand and taught me magic." Mum looked like she could start crying again. "Mum, what is it?"

"I'm just really glad you both were raised by nice, kind people. But I'm also upset that I didn't get to raise you." And my dad reached over and touched her knee.

"And we're also very proud of you both." Dad said, and I giggled.

"You wouldn't be if you heard the mouth on this girl. I gotta say, being raised by wolves gave her such filthy language." I said, making fun of her, she crossed her arms in mock-defiance.

"Well, excuse me miss bitch-this-and-shit-that, you're language isn't any better than mine." And we started playfully arguing, and Draco even piped in a few times in my defense. Mum and dad just laughed.

"We should care, but we really don't. We're just glad to have you back." Mum said.

"Hey, I have something to discuss with you guys. Where am I going to stay?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, don't get me wrong, I'll go back if I have to. I just didn't want to leave now that we've all found each other again. But I have nowhere to sleep." She said, and we all thought about it. I wished she could stay in my room, but there was no way that could work. Thankfully, Draco had an amazing idea.

"Why don't you stay in the stables? The only people who ever go out there are me and my mother, and Talia now. I mean, as long as your quiet, no one will ever know your there." We were all silent for a moment, and then I said what we were all obviously thinking.

"Draco, that's a brilliant idea." And I kissed him. I turned to Kayla. "What do you think?"

"I love it! I love horses. I mean, obviously I'll have to spend my "Time of month" A few miles away, just in case, but this is perfect."

"And I'll come see you every day! And I'll sneak you into mum and dad's room as much as I can! And I'll even sneak you up to my room as much as I can! And I can bring you food and clothes…"

"Talia, I can take care of myself. Trust me. The visiting is all I need." She said, and I smiled apologetically.

"Sorry! I'm just so excited to have you back." Draco was sitting behind me running his fingers through my hair, so I leaned against him and sighed in content. "I suppose we should leave soon." I said, frowning a little.

"Why?" Kayla said, looking just as disappointed as I felt.

"Because the Crazy Bitch is going to notice that I've been gone for a full twenty four hours now. Draco, too."

"Yeah, she probably has a whole list of random, unimportant stuff for you to do that she could do in four seconds with her wand." Draco said, pulling me up with him. Kayla got up too, and pulled me into a tight, desperate hug.

"Don't leave again while I'm away." I whispered into her ear. I was so afraid that she would disappear.

"I won't, I promise." She whispered back, and Draco and I left. And I immediately missed her.

…

The next day, as I was cleaning the fireplace, I felt a presence behind me. Groaning internally, I turned around to see none other than Bellatrix Lestrange herself standing over me.

"I'm almost finished, I'm sorry it's taking so long—" I started, but she cut me off.

"Where were you yesterday? I needed you to clean out the rain gutters and wash all the windows!" She said, and this time I accidentally groaned out loud.

"Are you kidding me?" I said a little too loudly, and she heard me. She stared at me for a few seconds, taking in that I had actually talked back to her. And then the Crazy Bitch unleashed her wrath by backhanding me across the face. I immediately felt wet warmth where her hand had slapped me, and when I reached my hand up to touch it and pulled it away, it was covered in bright red blood. She had slapped me with the hand she kept a ring on. I looked behind her to see Draco hurrying over to us, a murderous glare on his face for his aunt. I shook my head ever so slightly, but I was struggling to hold back tears. Not tears of hurt, but tears of rage. If I looked up at Bellatrix, she would see glowing green eyes.

"What did you say to me? Did you talk back to me? Listen here, you little tramp. No one talks to me like that. Do you hear me? I own you, little girl. You do what I say, when I say it. Got it?" I took a few seconds to calm myself. I slowed my breathing, and closed my eyes until I was sure they were back to their bright blue. And then I straightened up and looked her right in the eyes.

"Of course, Mrs. Lestrange. I'm sorry. I'll get right on that."

"Yes. You will." She said, and started to walk away. But then Draco piped up.

"Actually, Aunt Bella, I was going to tell the Jackson girl to go clean up my horses and get them ready for the day. They haven't been out in a while, and I was going to spend the day letting them run." Bellatrix, while looking soft at her nephew, still had hard, suspicious eyes for me.

"Didn't she spend all of yesterday _and _the day before with the horses?"

"Well, yes, but that was just their stables. Now I need her to clean the horses themselves. I'm certainly not going to do it myself." He said with that perfect Malfoy sneer.

"Of course you aren't! Miss Jackson, go out and clean up Draco's horses. And why don't you follow him while he rides them, in case he needs something."

"Yes, Ma'am." I said, and followed Draco outside to the stables. I saw Kayla sitting there on a little bed area she had put together, and she had a warm smile for me. And later on, I was able to return that warm smile. But for now, when Draco put some sound and sight barriers around the stables, there was one thing I needed to do first.

I screamed.


	31. Chapter 31

**The Getaway**

"I mean, the rain gutters? The _rain gutters_?! Are you kidding me? Since when does she need me to clean the rain gutters! Honestly, she doesn't need me to do any of this shit! Cleaning the fireplace, and polishing all the silver every other day, and _sweeping_, and the _mopping, _and all this goddamn cleaning! I mean, what the _hell_?!" I was pacing, and fuming, and Draco and Kayla were sitting on the ground, waiting for my venting session to be over so they could start the comforting. And after a few more paces and frustrated grunts, I was ready for it.

"Love, don't let this get to you. You know she's just trying to keep you occupied so you don't think about how you're basically a prisoner for life and they're going to try to use you to kill your best friend." Draco said, and I gave another frustrated sigh.

"I know, I know! I just… I don't know. I'm getting so tired of being holed up in here, I don't know how much longer I can take it. And I can't believe she hit me! I'm so gonna kill that Crazy Bitch one of these days…" I said, and went back to my pacing. But when Draco suddenly shot up and went over to the supply closet, I forgot about my troubles.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him. For an answer, he walked out with riding gear in his arms.

"Come on, help me saddle up the horses. You need to get out of here, so we're going for a ride." Kayla and I looked at each other, and instantly lit up.

"I get Stybba!" I yelled.

"I call Shadowfax!" Kayla yelled, and Draco laughed at us.

"As long as I get Snowmane, I'm good." Before we saddled up the horses, we gave them a nice, long brush. I was starting to see what the big fuss with horses was. Brushing down this horse, feeling its warmth, and the slow rise and fall of its breathing was so relaxing. I was almost disappointed when we were ready to depart. Draco rode his horse out of its stable with the other horse, Brego, attached to it.

"Why are you taking both?" I asked him as I mounted my horse.

"Well, I told Bellatrix that I was taking all of them for a ride. Plus, we're making a stop on the way to pick someone up." He gave me a knowing smile, and I read his mind.

"Blaise?" I asked.

"Blaise." He nodded, and Kayla, now on her own horse and waiting for us to catch up, looked confused.

"Who is Blaise?" She asked.

"Draco's best friend." I said.

"And only one of the most fun guys you'll ever meet." Draco said.

"_And _he has access to very expensive, very unused liquor." I said.

"Oh, so _that's _why you slept with him." Draco said, faking his hurt look. Kayla gasped.

"You slept with your boyfriend's best friend?" She said, disbelief flooding her face. I held my hands up.

"Yes, but it was _way _before me and Draco even liked each other!"

"I am so proud to be your sister." She said, pretending to wipe a single tear away from her cheek. We laughed, and then started to leave. But then I realized something.

"Wait, you guys, I left my sweater in the Manor. I'm SO not horseback riding in just a tank top." I said. Kayla answered me after a few seconds.

"Hold on, I have an idea." She hopped off her horse, went over to her bag, and pulled out an amazing black leather jacket and threw it up to me. My face alight, a pulled it on and loved the way it felt on my bare skin. "Looks good on you. What do you think?" She asked Draco.

"It's pretty damn sexy." He said, and I suddenly had a daydream of later that night when he would take it off me. As we rode, with the wind making my hair fly in all different directions, I felt so free. I felt as if I could take off and fly on my own, my arms turning into wings. My face was turned up to the sky, and I felt fearless. But as I looked back down to my two favorite people in the world, I decided that I didn't want to be anywhere else. Flying could wait. Pretty soon we were at Blaise's, and I could tell he wasn't expecting us. He was sitting on a little balcony, I assume outside his bedroom, reading a book. I got off my horse, with the other two right behind me, and cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled.

"Yo, Zabini! Get your ass down here, now!" He looked down and smiled, and a few minutes later was walking toward us from his front door.

"What the hell are you two doing here? Need to re-fill your hidden liquor stash, Talia?" He said, playfully slugging me on the shoulder.

"Sadly, no. I haven't had much time for drinking lately. We've come to kidnap you, and your delicious drinks, and go have some fun."

"Talia's had a rough morning." Draco said, his face on my injured cheek, eyes growing dark.

"I can see that. Who did this?" He said, using his hand to turn my face and get a better look at my cheek.

"That stupid Crazy Bitch Draco calls Auntie." I said, and Blaise understood. Suddenly his eyes found Kayla, then looked back at me, and then back at Kayla.

"You two are related." He said, and Kayla and I laughed.

"Wow, you sure do pick smart guys to sleep with, Tal." She said.

"Hey, as long as they're good-looking." I said, and we both laughed again. Draco and Blaise looked like they were pretending to be offended.

"Sisters?" Blaise asked, and we nodded and I put my arm around her shoulders, and she put hers around my waist.

"Yeppers!" I said, so very happy to finally be able to introduce my sister to each other.

"But I thought that she, uh…" He didn't seem to know how to finish his thought in a sensitive manner. Luckily, Kayla was a good guesser.

"That I was dead?" Blaise nodded. "Nope. Not dead. Just a werewolf." His eyes widened and he looked to me for an explanation, and I sighed.

"I'll tell you about it later. I just want to get back on that horse and get to wherever we're going. Where are we going?" I asked Draco, and he smiled coyly.

"You'll see. But before we go, can I borrow some clothes, Blaise? I kind of want to get out of this suit."

"Yeah, sure." And they walked into the house, leaving us with the horses. We didn't mind, though. We sat on the ground and played with the grass, enjoying the cool autumn air. I had lost track of what month it was, maybe October. I found myself wondering what my friends were doing at that moment. I found it hard to believe that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had actually gone back to school. I hoped that they were actually doing something productive, like hunting down horcruxes. I must've had a strange look on my face, because I looked up to find Kayla looking at me with a worried expression.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked me, and I looked back down.

"I'm just worried."

"About what?"

"About everything that's happening out there in the world," I waved my hand up, gesturing to somewhere else. "I have friends out there that are fighting for their lives, and fighting for the fate of the world, and I just wish I could be out there helping them, instead of sitting here, in the grass, drinking and horseback riding with my boyfriend."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit. There's not much you can do here, Talia! All you can do is stay safe so you can help your friends when the time comes. Unless you're going to give in to these people. You're not going to give up to these people, are you?" She asked me, challenging me. I was a little offended.

"Of course not! I'm going to sit tight and let these people think they're controlling me, and then turn around and kill them all when their backs are turned." Her eyes widened a little at my harsh words. "What?"

"Don't you think that's a little extreme? I mean, it's awesome that you're not going to back down. But to kill them all? Talia, I know we haven't seen each other in God knows how long. But I also know you're not a killer." I turned my face back to the ground to avoid her eyes.

"Sometimes I'm not so sure. A few months ago, they got me all dressed up and fancy, and made me sing for everyone, and I just lost it. It was almost like I wasn't even in control of my own mind. All I could think about was making them all stop breathing. And it felt so good, Kay. Killing them felt so right." I told her, and my eyes started to water. I didn't want to become that kind of person, but I was starting to think it was inevitable. I felt her hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at her eyes that were blue, like mine, but a darker blue than my light ones. She was smiling at me.

"I understand. You're talking to a Grade A monster here, remember? But you have me, and Draco, and all your friends behind you. We won't let you lose control. I promise." I grabbed her hand, not trusting my ability to speak at the moment. When we heard Blaise's front door open again, and the two boys walk out, we stood up and turned to them, our conversation dropped. And when I looked at them, I saw something that I never thought I'd see in my life.

Draco wearing clothes. Normal, casual, non-suit clothes.

"Damn." Kayla said, and I nodded, still not able to speak, for different reasons than before. Draco was wearing jeans, a white V-neck t-shirt, and a simple black leather jacket. His hair wasn't all neat and tidy anymore, having been messed up by the ride over here, but it still looked good. Really good. He walked with that classic Malfoy swagger of his that he'd been hiding while back at home, and I had to admit that I missed it. He walked up to me until we were a breath away from each other, and had to look down to me, since he was a whole foot taller than me.

"See? Told you I wear normal clothes." He said in a low, growl-type voice that he only ever used when we were alone. Honestly, we might as well have been alone anyway. "You like?" I still couldn't form coherent words, so I simply nodded. He chuckled and bent down to kiss me, which took my breath away even more. He had one hand at the small of my back, while the other was gently tangling itself in my hair. We only broke apart when someone cleared their throat, but before we moved we gave each other a secret, silent promise for later. We all started to mount horses, and Blaise went immediately for Stybba.

"Hey hey hey, off the horse, dude. Stybba's mine." I said, and Blaise backed away looking confused.

"You mean I actually get the brown one this time?" He said as I mounted Stybba, while he mounted Brego.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" I said.

"Well, whenever Draco shows up looking for a riding partner, he always brings Snowmane for himself and Stybba for me. I always get the black one."

"Oh my God, Draco, that's so racist." I said.

"Yeah dude, that's just not cool." Kayla said, and Blaise laughed.

"Hey, I thought you liked Stybba!" Draco said defensively.

"I do, but it would be nice to have a little variety once in a while." Blaise said, which made us all laugh, even Draco. And then we all left, Draco in the front, leading us toward his secret destination. He sure did like surprises, Draco. And by the looks of it, Blaise knew exactly where we were going also. Boy, I sure hoped he had some drinks already stashed there, because there was no way I was drinking anything that came out of his saddle bag after this bumpy ride. We rode for what felt like hours, and then we came to a stop right at the end of a clearing, before a wall of trees met us. Draco dismounted his horse, tied it to the tree, and waited for us all to do the same.

"We have to walk?" I said, and Draco chuckled.

"There's not an actual path, so the horses would have a hard time. It's better to leave them here in the shade, where they can rest. Don't worry, it's not that far." He said. I didn't worry. It actually wasn't that bad of a walk. Ten minutes, maybe a little more. But walking hand in hand with Draco, and making him pick me up when there was a big branch to step over, was pretty fun. Kayla and Blaise got to know each other, and looking around at our little group made me happy, if not a little frightened. A Siren, a werewolf, and two Slytherins, one being a Malfoy, I felt like we could take over the world if we wanted to. Just as Kayla was telling us about how she kicked the ass of some fully grown werewolf when she was just ten years old, Draco came to a stop and stood in front of us.

"You ready?" He asked us, and we looked nervously at each other.

"As ready as we'll ever be, I guess. Why?" He and Blaise grinned at each other, and Blaise grabbed a few pieces of cloth out of his back pocket.

"Because, ladies, we're going to have to blindfold you the rest of the way." Blaise said, and started blindfolding Kayla while Draco blindfolded me.

"Why is this necessary?" Kayla asked them once they finished.

"Because this is our secret hideout," Blaise said.

"And if we showed you how to get there, we'd have to kill you." Draco said.

"And it would be such a shame to kill such beautiful ladies such as yourselves,"

"So we felt that this was our only option." Draco said, and placed a hot, sexy kiss on the back of my neck. "But don't worry; we won't make you walk there blindly." And with that, he walked in front of me, and hitched up onto his back, piggy back-style. From the squeal I heard next to us, I assumed that Blaise had done the same to Kayla.

"Well, this works for me." I said, and rested my chin on Draco's shoulder.

"Mush!" Kayla shouted, and they started walking again.

We walked for a few minutes, and I kind of enjoyed being blinded and carried through the woods. I could have fallen asleep, if Draco hadn't kept tickling my thighs where his hands were. It made me giggle and squirm, and he almost dropped me one time.

"Careful, we might make the other two uncomfortable," I whispered in his ear, and then placed a kiss right behind it.

"I'm pretty sure they don't even remember we're here." He said, and I listened. Sure enough, they were talking away, completely ignoring us. Occasionally, Kayla would laugh at something Blaise said, and then would say something that made him laugh in return. It was nice seeing, or hearing, them get to know each other. I tuned them out, giving them a little privacy, and just sat there, enjoying the ride. Pretty soon, the boys stopped, and put us down. The hard, rocky ground, sound of rushing water, and light spray on my face could only mean one thing. And when Draco took off my blindfold, I was not disappointed.

"This is amazing." I said.

"So cool." Kayla said, and we looked at each other with wide smiles. We were standing in front of a small, gorgeous waterfall, which dropped into a small, clear pool of water. I went over to the pool, slipping off a shoe and sock from one foot. I dipped it into the water, expecting it to be extremely cold, but instead was met by nicely warm water.

"Hey, what the hell? It's like, October or something. This water should be freezing!" I said.

"Well, when we were younger, we put up a spell around the area so that it would stay nice and warm. That way, if we ever needed to get away, we could come out here and chill, no matter what time of year." Draco said, looking around.

"I can't believe it still works." Blaise said, and they started to walk towards the waterfall. Kayla and I followed them, and soon found ourselves in a cozy, little alcove behind the falling water. At first I wondered why the water wasn't making a huge, annoying crashing sound, but then I just figured it was another one of the boys' enchantments. We settled onto the ground, where there was blanket and pillows and food and drinks waiting for us. I snuggled against Draco, getting comfortable in the pillows.

"Hey, how'd all this stuff get here?" Kayla asked, helping herself to some fruit.

"We sent it over here before we left. Didn't want it to get all shook up on the ride over." Blaise said, and started eating also. And then I thought of something.

"Blaise, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at school?" I asked him, and he looked down at the food.

"Well, you know how my parents are always away? Well, they were supposed to be home this weekend, so I got permission to come home and see them. Only, when I got here, I found a note saying that something came up and they'd see me at Christmas." I looked at him with sympathetic eyes, and he just shrugged it off. "It's no big deal. Really, I'm used to it." And then he changed the subject.

We fell into a nice, comfortable conversation. We laughed, and joked, and even talked about important stuff. And soon, it turned into two separate conversations: the one Draco and I were having, and the one Kayla and Blaise were having. I looked over and smiled at them, liking how comfortable they looked with each other.

"They look happy, don't you think?" I asked, and Draco looked over to them as well.

"Yeah. Good thing too, I can imagine they both need a little happiness in their lives."

"Yeah. " I agreed. Somehow, we had managed to make our way into lying positions, but still close to each other. He shifted to where we were still close, but he could get a good look at my face.

"Don't think I didn't notice your red, puffy eyes back at Blaise's house." He said.

"Why didn't you say anything, then?" I asked.

"I figured you'd want a little privacy. I know you don't like to let people see you all vulnerable like that." I looked away from his eyes.

"Yeah, well, it seems to be happening more and more these days, anyway. But thanks." He pulled my chin up so I could look at him again.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I took a breath.

"I was just frustrated, I guess. I keep on feeling sorry for myself, thinking I have it so bad here, but my friends are out there fighting for their lives. And I'm sitting here, eating strawberries and getting tipsy, and I just wish I could be out there, helping them. I feel so useless." He stroked the cut on my cheek, which was already starting to heal, and kissed my forehead.

"You're doing all you can. And when you get out of here, which you _will_, you'll be able to help them even more. You're being too hard on yourself, Talia." I smiled, trying to push back the tears that had started to form. I really hated this crying thing.

"That's basically what Kayla told me." I said.

"Good. She's smart, that sister of yours." He said, and I hugged him.

A few beers later, things were getting crazy. We were being loud and obnoxious, and having a great time. Blaise was trying to sing some song that none of us had ever heard, and Kayla was clapping along, pretending she knew exactly what he was singing. I stood up, and pulled her up with me, and walked her over to where the water was falling. I whispered an idea I had in her ear, and she nodded in approval. Simultaneously, we started undressing.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Blaise said, looking a little worried.

"We have decided to go for a swim." Kayla said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Neither of you have bathing suits with you, though." Draco said, and we paused to look at him.

"And?" I said, and we started undressing again.

"Well, I'm game." Blaise said, and he started to shrug out of his clothes too. Pretty soon, he was in his boxers, and Kayla and I were in nothing but our bras and underwear. Thankfully, I had worn something cute on under my clothes. Kayla jumped through the curtain of water, followed closely by Blaise. I could hear them splashing at each other as I slowly walked over to where Draco was still lying on the ground. I crawled over to him until I was on top of him, and he placed his hands on my waist.

"If I had a Galleon for every time we were in this position." He said quietly, though more for effect than privacy. I leaned my head down and let my lips graze his ear, and I felt it give him a shiver down his spine.

"Care for a swim?" I said, but I let him pulled me closer as his hands explored the body they were already so familiar with.

"I don't know, I kind of like how things are going in here." He said, and started to unhook my bra. I pulled away before he could get it, and stood up.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on having sex outside, on the ground. And as much as I'm open to anything, as you should know by now, I'd rather save the good stuff for later." He stood up and walked over to me, until we were once again standing close to each other.

"Tease." He whispered in my ear, and this time it was my turn to shiver.

"Hey, get your lazy asses out here!" I heard Blaise yell from outside, and Kayla laughed. I grabbed Draco's jacket and shrugged it off of him, let it fall to the floor, and then I backed up, laughing at him, and jumped out into the water. Well, more like dived. When I came above the surface, I was on the other side of the pool, and turned around just in time to see Draco join us. We swam to each other and had a good time splashing, and dunking each other in. After a while, we even started to play chicken, with Kayla on Blaise's shoulders, and me on Draco's. Of course.

And later that night, after we rode home and left Kayla in the stables, Draco and I snuck up to his room where we messed around and had some wonderful, amazing sex. He sure did know how to cheer me up.


	32. Chapter 32

**The Explanations**

I woke up the next morning feeling amazing. I was in a wonderful, blissful haze that always came after a good night's sex. I opened my eyes to a beautiful morning with sun streaming through the windows and birds chirping and crap like that. Usually, I didn't sleep in so late, for fear of being caught coming out of Draco's room in the morning. But today, I just didn't care. I was so comfortable, wrapped up in the sheets and the comforter with Draco. It really would have been the perfect morning, if we hadn't been at Malfoy Manor, me as a prisoner. But honestly, for the moment, I couldn't imagine things being any better than they were.

And then I tried standing up.

The events of last night came rushing back to me in a wave of dizziness. I could hardly stand, and the nausea wasn't helping anything either. Why did I have to party so hard last night? Being hung-over at this place was not a good idea. Bellatrix could find out, and there was only so much that Draco and Narcissa could protect me from. My head throbbing, I decided to sit down in my place on Draco's bedroom floor. I was pretty sure this was the most hung-over I'd ever been. I heard Draco start to stir in bed, and I hoped that he didn't feel as awful as I did. One of us needed to be functional.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked me suddenly, cutting through the silence.

"Don't be so loud! My head is screaming at me." I said, and he gave a low, quiet chuckle.

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Well, why don't you come back to bed so we can whisper?"

"Would if I could, man. I seem to be suddenly filled with lead. Can't move." I heard him move again, but this time it was to get up and help me back into bed. It would've been so romantic, him carrying me bridal-style into bed, if it hadn't made me want to throw up even more.

"There you go. Now, just stay in bed until you feel better. I'll tell my aunt you're doing stuff for me today." He said, and I enjoyed the warm bed once again.

"I seem to be doing a lot of stuff for you lately. Won't she be suspicious?" I asked, and he thought about it for a second.

"Okay then, I'll ask my mother to tell the Crazy Bitch that you're doing stuff for her today. How's that?"

"Just perfect." I said, closing my eyes, hoping this didn't last all day. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would, though. It was quiet for a few more minutes, and then Draco spoke again.

"Do you remember last night?" He whispered, a sexy grin on his face. It made me laugh.

"I don't think I'll ever forget last night. It was amazing."

"Has it ever been that good?"

"I don't think so. I don't know if it was the drinking, or the swimming, or the horse-back riding, but there was definitely something."

"I don't think it was anything specific. I mean, I felt it all day."

"Yeah, me too. I guess it was just a sexy kind of day." I said, thinking of Kayla and Blaise. "What was up with Kay and Blaise? Did you notice that?"

"Oh yeah. I sure did." He said, and I suddenly got nervous. But why should I have been nervous? She wasn't a little girl anymore. She could take care of herself. Just then, we heard a knock at the door. Draco looked at me nervously, and I hoped I didn't have to get up and hide.

"Who is it?" He called, with the authority of a Malfoy.

"It's your mother, Draco." She said, clearly not liking him talking to her like that. He got so embarrassed, it was adorable. "May I come in? I brought you and Talia breakfast." Of course she would know I'm here. She knows everything.

"Yeah, just wait a minute." He said, and jumped out of bed to put some clothes on. Thankfully, he handed me some pajamas, so I didn't have to get up. I did, however, make sure to be on top of the covers, and a safe distance away from him. Just to be safe. He walked over to the door and opened it for her, and she came in with a tray of food in her hands. I thought that the smell would make me feel more sick, bit it actually helped a little. I sat up, and she handed me the tray.

"There you go. I thought you guys could use some food this morning." She said, a knowing glint in her eye. "How are you feeling, Talia?" She asked me, and I laughed a little.

"How do you always know everything?" I asked her, and she laughed. Quietly, I might add.

"I hardly know everything, my dear. But I have seen enough drunk people to recognize it in my own son and his girlfriend." I was a little embarrassed that she had seen us like that.

"I'm sorry, Narcissa." I said, and she laughed again.

"Oh, honey, you don't think that I've never been drunk in my life, do you?" She said, a smile on her face. I gained a little more respect for her just then, if it was even possible to respect her more than I already did. I looked down at the tray she had brought us, and saw orange juice, waffles, bacon, potatoes, tea, ice water, and even an ice pack. And a little tiny vial of something that I'd never seen before.

"What's this?" I said, picking it up to examine it closer.

"That's my own special hangover buster. Maybe someday I'll tell you the special recipe." She said, and then got up. "There's enough for two." And then she left, softly closing the door.

"Draco, have I ever told you how much I love your mother?" I said, pulling the cork out of the bottle.

"Once or twice, yeah." He said, smiling at me. I drank half of the liquid, handed it to Draco, and immediately started to feel better. The headache went away, the dizziness disappeared, and I knew I'd be able to walk. As I saw Draco's reaction, I could tell that it worked for him as well. We ate the amazing breakfast Narcissa had brought us, and compared notes about the night before. Of course, they were all good notes, but still. It was an amazing morning so far, but the day was still young. And then I groaned out loud, which made Draco look at me questioningly.

"What?" He asked, and I leaned my head back against the head board of the bed.

"Well, now that I don't feel hung-over anymore, I'll probably have to spend the day working for Bellatrix again."

"Unless we think of something else to keep you occupied…" He said, and grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of himself. I laughed and leaned against him, my face against his chest so I could feel his heartbeat.

"Draco, you _know _they're not going to let you slack off another day. Don't you have super-secret Death Eater missions to go on?" I asked, and he laughed.

"Interesting way of explaining what I do. And yes, sadly, I do have stuff to do today. But you don't have anything to worry about, because my aunt is going to be out today also." I sat up so I was straddling him, but could look at him easier.

"That's amazing news. Well, the part about Bellatrix being gone anyway. When do you have to leave?"

"In a little bit. Why?"

"Do you have time to walk me down to the stables? I want to give Kay her jacket back, as much as I'd like to keep it. The full moon is tonight, and I don't know how many jackets she'll need." I said, hopping out of bed, with Draco close behind. Although he had one of those little changing areas in the corner, he had no problem getting dressed in front of me.

"You're so protective of her, its adorable!" He said in a cute little baby voice, so I punched his shoulder. "And yes, I have time to walk with you."

"Good." When he was finished getting ready, we snuck over to my room so I could get dressed. "Why did you have a pair of my pajamas in your room?" I asked as I chose between two tops to wear, like it actually mattered what I wore. I looked at myself in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. My hair was flat, I had no make-up on, and my hands were worn and sore from all the chores. The only two things that always stayed the same were my bright, round blue eyes and the necklace Draco got me to match. I went with a purple top with blue speckles that accented my eyes. It gave me a little bit of normalcy back.

"You left them there one night. I don't remember when, but I kept them there just in case."

"Well, that was a wise decision." By then I was fully dressed, still looking at myself in the full-body mirror. Only now, I was joined by Draco Malfoy, with his arms around my waist, his lighter greyish-blue eyes joining mine. It felt even more normal, and for a second I could pretend that we weren't trapped here in this personal hell on Earth. But then my eyes traveled to the cut on my face, and I remembered just what I was doing there. I also wondered if the scar would ever go away, or if it would be there to match the one on my arm for the rest of my life. As if he could hear my thoughts, Draco lowered his mouth to my ear.

"We'll get out of here soon. I promise." He started to push me against the wall, so I turned around to face him. When we got there, it wasn't a full-on hot snog session like it usually was. It was just us, standing against each other, looking into each other's eyes.

"How can you be sure?" I whispered back to him.

"Just trust me." Was all he said. Then we wordlessly walked down the hall and the down the stairs. I mean, seriously, it took like ten years for us to just get halfway down the stairs. It was crazy. Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly ten years. But still. When we finally got to the bottom, I saw that the house was practically empty. Draco and I didn't even have to let go of each other's hands. Before we stepped outside, I turned to him.

"I do trust you." We went out into the cool, fall air and I immediately started to shiver. "What is up with this weather? It's so cold!" I said, and Draco wrapped an arm around mine to help keep me warm.

"Well, that's usually what happens later in the year." He said as a joke, and I giggled through my chattering teeth.

"But it wasn't this cold yesterday!" I said, as we neared the stables. Just outside the door, Draco turned to me and wrapped both arms around me, and I immediately relaxed into his warmth.

"Weather is a strange, mysterious thing, isn't it?" And he turned around and opened the door, but very quickly shut it and leaned his back against it. "Actually, looks like she's still asleep. Poor thing must be as hung-over as you were, maybe we should come back later with some of my mother's potion." He said quickly, and started pushing me back the way we had come.

"Well, why don't I just quick slip it inside the door?" I asked, pushing him back. But alas, he was stronger than me at the moment.

"Just trust me, we shouldn't go in there right now. Like I said, you can come back later when you have some time."

"But—"

"It's okay, Talia! Let's just go!" He said sternly, so I followed him, pouting. But the second he let go of my arm, I ducked under his arm and ran to the stables, and yanked open the door.

I was _so _not prepared for what I saw.

Kayla was still in her bed, wrapped up in the covers, in a deep, peaceful sleep.

Next to Blaise Zabini.

Now, I know that earlier I had thought about this myself, that Kayla and Blaise would be a good match, but something was making me forget that momentarily. Instead I felt an intense anger towards the slimy, sleazy, naked guy sleeping next to my baby sister. As if my hate was radiating off my body and he could feel it, he sleepily woke up and rubbed his eyes. The second they met mine, I could tell he could sense his impending doom. I could sense Draco in the doorway behind me, and I knew the rational thing would be to step outside and let him calm me down. But I wasn't thinking very rational at that moment. Blaise reached over to Kayla and rubbed her shoulder, gently waking her up. She sat up, covering herself with the blanket, and looked at me pleadingly. Blaise started to pull on his pants under the covers.

"Tal, please just hear me out—"

"I'm going to bloody murder your ass, Zabini!" I yelled, cutting her off. It startled him, and he jumped up and ran for the doors at the other end of the stables. But the doors were locked, so he ran into the closest horse's stable, so I ran after him. It was a bit like that muggle cartoon Scooby-Doo, where we chased each other from stable to stable until I had him cornered. I grabbed the front of his shirt and raised my hand as if to hit him, but stopped when I heard Kayla's voice.

"Talia, don't!" She said, and she ran to stand next to Blaise, who was staring at me.

"Tal, your eyes…" He said, and I let go and turned around so he couldn't see them anymore. I felt strong hands grab my shoulders and steer me away, and then he spoke to the other two.

"I'm going to take her outside for a minute and talk some sense into her. You two should get dressed, and we'll be back." And he pushed me outside. When I was outside a few minutes ago, the cold had a huge effect on me. But now, I was burning from the inside. "Okay Tal, you need to calm down and control yourself a little more." He said.

"I _am _calm! How dare you accuse me of not being in control of myself! Didn't you see what was happening in there? Blaise was taking advantage of my sister! I can't believe you would take his side! This is so—" Draco cut me off the only way he knew would stop me from saying something I would regret. He kissed me. He pulled me close, and gave me a nice, sweet kiss. It wasn't smothering and smoldering like usual, but just hard enough to distract me from my rage. When he pulled away, with my face still cupped in his hands, I could feel myself returning to normal.

"You good now?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I can't believe what I just did. I have no idea why I acted that way." I said, ashamed of myself. Draco just smiled in understanding.

"You've been under more pressure than anyone else could handle, Talia, and you're bottling it all in. Seeing something like this, involving your sister who you've only just discovered was alive, is enough to push anyone in your situation over the edge." I nodded, and decided that he was right. It still didn't change anything, though. "Can we go back in there and let them explain, now?" He asked, and I nodded again. He pulled me inside, where we found Kayla and Blaise, fully dressed, standing there and talking to each other. They both turned towards me and looked at me with love and kindness. I went to Blaise and gave him a hug.

"Sorry, bro. I didn't mean to hurt you." I said.

"Don't worry, you didn't." We pulled apart, and I went to Kayla and hugged her next.

"You okay?" she asked me, and I nodded yet again. I pulled away and we all sat down in a circle.

"I'm myself again, I promise. But can you guys please just explain to me how this happened? I mean, you only met yesterday." I said, and they both smiled sheepishly. Kayla was the one who talked.

"Yeah. Well, I don't know if you noticed how much flirting went on between us yesterday—"

"Oh, we did." Draco and I said at the same time, cutting her off. They both looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, anyway, after you two stumbled into the house last night, I started to get ready for bed, super drunk and tripping over everything, when Blaise showed up."

"She dropped her wand in the grass at my place." Blaise added.

"And he came on his broom all the way over here to bring it back to me, so I said he could sit inside for a bit to rest. And we started talking, and he kept on making me laugh, and—"

"And we were both really drunk still. I probably shouldn't have flown all the way here." Blaise added, again.

"It was really dangerous. Anyway, it was the night before the full moon and all, and I'm always super horny around this time, and it just sort of… happened." She said, and apparently that was the end of the story.

"It just… happened? How does something like that 'Just Happen'?" I asked, and she shrugged her shoulders, and looked down at her lap.

"I really like him." She said quietly, still looking down. Blaise gave a little smile and grabbed her hand, and by the way he looked at her, I could tell he felt the same way. And just like that, I got it. They needed this. Just like Draco and I needed each other, Kay and Blaise needed someone too. It may not be love just yet, but it was still important. And maybe, later on, it would evolve into love. Actually, I hoped it would. I looked over at a smiling Draco, and he looked at me, and he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. I looked back at Kayla and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I understand." I whispered in her ear, and she relaxed into the hug. I thought the conversation was over, but as we started to stand up, Blaise brought up something that I had been avoiding for a while now.

"Um, you guys? I'm really glad we could work everything out and all, but I think you guys owe me an explanation." He said, looking at me and Draco. I looked up from my hands at Draco, and when he gave me a little nod, I looked at Blaise.

"You're right Blaise. I'm sorry." I said. He gave me a small smile.

"It's okay, Tal. I'm not mad or anything, but I need some answers. You guys keep on lying to me about something, but I've been ignoring it because I've known that it must be important. I mean, did you really think I'd actually believe that bull shit story you gave me at Talia's birthday party? Come on guys. And of course there's the fact that you're here, Tal, at Malfoy Manor, in the middle of the school year. That's just weird." He said, and then paused to take a breath. "Your eyes were green, Talia. You have to tell me the truth." I suddenly felt guilty for trying to lie to him for this long. He was right, I underestimated him. I took a big, deep breath, and hoped to God that I wasn't making a huge mistake.

"Blaise, I'm a Siren." I said, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Holy shit." Was all he said after a few more seconds of staring. I laughed.

"That's pretty similar to how Draco acted when I told him."

"That is so cool!" He shouted, looking excited.

"Not really." I said, and his smile faltered.

"Why not?"

"Because that's why I'm here. I'm being held prisoner here by the Death Eaters and The Dark Lord. They want to use me to help kill Harry Potter."

"So that's why you left school early. And why Bellatrix hit you?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I talked back." I said, looking a little bit more proud than I should have. He laughed.

"That's my girl."

"Blaise, you can't tell anyone about this. This is something that could get you killed for knowing, okay?"

"I promise. Not a word." He said, and did that thing where he pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key, and we all started laughing at him. We kept on laughing, until Kayla checked her watch and got up suddenly.

"I hate to break up the love fest guys, but I have to get going. I have to get as far away from here as possible before tonight, just in case."

"You have your potion, right?" I asked, getting up after her, and helped her shove her things into her bag.

"Of course! This isn't my first rodeo, Tal."

"I'm sorry, Kay! I just want to make sure you'll be okay." I said, and we hugged. "Come back safe, alright?"

"I will. Promise." She said, and I backed away so Draco could hug her.

"Come back in one piece." He said, and kissed her cheek. He walked over to me. "Let's go so her and Blaise can say goodbye." We turned to leave just as Blaise was walking up to my sister with a very intimate look on his face. Just before we left, I turned around.

"Hey Blaise?" I said, and he turned to look at me.

"Yeah?" I smiled.

"No hanky-panky." I said, and he smiled. Draco and I left, walking back to the Manor with his arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist.

"Do you really have to leave?" I asked him, and he turned me around to face him. As we looked at each other it started to snow, and I took that as a bad sign. Things were about to start happening, and I wasn't sure I was ready for them.

"I'll be back after supper. I'll come see you the minute I get back." He said, and we kissed. When we walked inside, I sat down on the chair and watch Draco leave through the front door.


	33. Chapter 33

**The Christmas Party**

The next couple months went by fairly uneventful, and before I knew it, it was the beginning of December. I had been sucking up to Bellatrix, just because Draco had convinced me it would be good for me in the long run. Of course, I hadn't been able to see Draco very much, and I was beginning to think it was because Bellatrix suspected something between us. I also hadn't been able to visit my parents more than a couple times, or Kayla, because The Crazy Bitch kept on making me do these long, hard chores that took me all day. I mean, I know Draco had promised we would get out of here, but I was starting to feel like it was a promise he couldn't keep. And even if we did, they'd still be able to find him through that awful Dark Mark on his arm. And how would we get my parents out of here? All these 'how's and 'what if's were constantly swirling around in my mind, and it was quite annoying.

It was December fifth, and I had the Manor to myself, so I was browsing the many bookshelves for a new book to read. I was in the main parlor when I heard a noise coming from a small stairway in the corner, one that I'd never been down before. I quickly put the book back and turned around to find none other than Lord Voldemort standing right in front of me. I looked down to my shoes, not because it was proper, but because I was afraid.

"My Lord! I'm sorry, I was just looking for a book to read in my room. I'll be heading up there right away." I expected him to be angry with me for being out of my room without permission, like Bellatrix would be. But he wasn't. He used his finger to pull my chin up, and I was forced to look into those horribly human eyes.

"Don't be silly, my dear. You are a guest in this house, and should be treated as such." I didn't know who he was fooling. We both knew that I was his prisoner. He was just trying to make me feel comfortable, to get me on his side. I gave a shy, tentative smile.

"Of course, my Lord. Thank you." I said, purposefully making him think it was working. He let go of my chin and stepped back a few feet, but still kept his eyes on mine the whole time.

"Will you be at the Mrs. Malfoy's Christmas Masquerade in a few days?" He asked me casually, which scared me even more, if possible. I had been cleaning for that party for weeks, and Bellatrix had put it quite plainly that I would be staying in my room the whole night.

"No, sir. Bell—Mrs. Lestrange has made it clear that I'm not to attend." I said.

"Nonsense. You will attend." He said, case closed.

"Th—Thank you, my Lord." I said, looking away. I couldn't look at him any longer. For some odd reason, he kept trying to make small talk.

"Sadly, I will not be able to attend the party. I have very important matters to see to." He said, and I wasn't sure how to respond to him saying he couldn't go. So I just nodded, and gave another small smile. "Well, good day, Miss Jackson." He said, and walked away down a corridor that I'd never been down, and didn't care to any time soon. But then I remembered the stairway, which looked as if it led to some sort of basement, he had come up a few minutes earlier. I was hit with a wave of curiosity, and before I could tell them not to, my feet started to lead me in that direction. But before I could reach it, I heard the front doors open, and I quickly sat down in a corner to polish some random thing. A few seconds later, Bellatrix came hurrying in, looking annoyed.

"Miss Jackson, go to the other room and clean something in there." She said, and I nodded. I knew what that meant. It meant that she had taken my parents out to do something for her, and she didn't want me to see them come in. She still had no idea that I knew they were living under the same roof as me, and I was happy keeping it that way. As I closed the door, I heard a commotion, as if someone was being moved against their will. But to turn around to see would surely get me a slap across the other cheek. As I sat down on a chair to get started, the door opened and Draco came in. I practically sighed in relief at seeing him, but he put his finger to his mouth and pointed to the door. Bellatrix could still hear us from out there.

"Miss Jackson, once you're finished here, I need my laundry done today. I need to pick out a nice suit for the party, which means that they need to be clean." He said, a little bit more loudly than usual, making me struggle not to laugh. He came over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving, and I started to clean a little faster.

…

I collapsed down on Draco's bed an hour later, exhausted. I'd been working my ass off the past few weeks, and it was nice to finally have some alone time with him. Even if it was just to help him pick out a suit.

"I love this bed." I said, enjoying the soft comforter that smelled fresh and clean. Draco was behind the room divider, changing into one of the four suits I had chosen from his closet.

"And that bed loves you, Tal." He said, making fun of me.

"Hey, don't mock me. I'm tired. And your bed is _way _nicer than the bumpy cardboard that I have to sleep on."

"You don't sleep on cardboard."

"I might as well compared to this one!" He laughed at my exaggeration, and the sound of it relaxed me even more. He stepped out in a classic black suit and tie, and did some cute little model moves for me.

"What do you think about this one?" He asked. I studied it, and then shook my head.

"It's too similar to what you always wear." I said. He went back to change into the next one, and I laid back down, closing my eyes. "It would be so awesome if we could match our outfits. But Bellatrix is already a little suspicious of us." He poked his head and shoulders out to look at me, and I enjoyed looking at his bare shoulders.

"I thought you weren't going?" He asked.

"I had the weirdest day. I was wandering around, looking for a book to read, and I turned around once to find Voldemort standing right behind me."

"Freaky!" He said from behind the divider.

"I know, right? Anyway, he basically told me that I was a "guest" in this house, and that I should go to the party."

"Well, if the Dark Lord says so, you'd better do it." He said.

"No kidding." I said, although I was a little excited to be able to dress up. I already had an outfit in my mind. Once again, Draco came out wearing a charcoal grey suit, and again, I shook my head. "Don't you ever wear anything different?" I asked, in a whiny tone.

"Don't you ever not complain about what I wear?"

"Well, maybe if you wore something different once in a while, I wouldn't complain!" I said, and felt the mattress go down with more weight. I opened my eyes to see Draco, on top of me, wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Or maybe I should just dress like this all the time." He said, lowering his face to mine.

"Now you're speaking my language." I said, meeting him halfway. It was a nice, long, deep, sweet kiss, and as far as I was concerned, it could have lasted forever. I moved my legs so my knees were on either side of his waist, and arched my back to be closer to him. The kiss deepened into something more urgent, the clothes came off (of me, anyway), and pretty soon I was also in nothing but my underwear. Things had slowed down, and we weren't going to have sex. But it was still fun to fool around a little bit. "Remember back in the day when I didn't want to have sex in the same house as Voldemort?"

"Yeah?" He said, nibbling on my neck.

"That was stupid." I said, and he laughed.

"It was understandable. But I'm glad you've changed your mind." He said, and plopped down next to me.

"Don't get too comfortable, mister. I still need to see some more suits."

"But I'm tired!" He said, sounding like a child who was complaining about something.

"Come on, it's not that hard."

"You're not the one trying on all these suits!"

"Come on, just a couple more!" I said, and he sighed and got up.

"One more suit, and that's it." He said, all cute and stuff.

"Whatever you say." I said, humoring him. After a few seconds of thought, I said something that had been on my mind. "Hey, where does that staircase in the main parlor lead to?"

"Why?" He said, suspicious of my reason for bringing it up.

"Well, it's where Voldemort came from earlier. I was just wondering why." He was silent for a few moments, as if deciding whether or not to tell me.

"It's the dungeons, if you must know." He said, and I bolted up.

"The dungeons?! He must be keeping someone down there! Do you know who it is?" I asked.

"No, I don't know who's down there, or even _if _anyone is down there. But Tal, you can't go there, alright?"

"But I have to!"

"Just don't! You don't know what could be down there!"

"I have to, Draco! If Lord Voldemort, the enemy, is keeping someone down in the dungeons, it could be one of my friends! I have to go see!" He gave me a frustrated sigh, giving up the argument.

"Whatever, Talia. Just please be careful, okay? Don't get caught." I laughed diabolically.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" I never got an answer from him. He stepped out into view in this amazing, very obviously custom made suit. From where I was sitting it looked black, but when I got up close to him it was actually a very dark, deep emerald green. It looked amazing on him.

"This is perfect." I said, but he looked a little doubtful.

"Are you sure? It's not too… obvious?"

"Are you kidding me? This is so perfect for you. If you were a suit, you'd be this suit."

"That totally makes sense." He said, very sarcastically, so I slapped his shoulder. On the outside I was playful, but my mind was whirling with so many thoughts at once. My outfit for the party, which pair of shoes I should wear, but mostly… how I was going to get into that dungeon without being noticed.

…

It was December tenth, the day of Narcissa's famous Christmas party, and I had finally finished all the chores that needed to get done before hand. I even helped her decorate, which actually turned out to be pretty fun. Of course, we had to pretend otherwise when Bellatrix walked through which ever room we were decorating at the moment, but still. I was just heading up to my room to take a shower and start getting ready when I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder, forcing me to a stop.

"Where do you think you're going?" The Crazy Bitch asked me. I turned around.

"Up to my room to wash up, ma'am." She eyes me warily.

"Yes, I heard about My Lord's little invitation to you. It's definitely not what I would've done, but I'm not about to defy him, am I?" I shook my head. "You finished all the cleaning and decorating?"

"Yes ma'am. You can ask Mrs. Malfoy if you'd like, she personally made sure that I didn't forget anything." That seemed to satisfy her, though she still didn't trust me.

"Very well. Get to it, then." I bowed my head slightly, and turned to walk into my room. But before I walked through the doorway, she spoke again, "And Miss Jackson? If you even think about trying anything funny, any type of sabotage or escape, I'll personally see to it that your parents don't make it through the night. And that means for the rest of your time here, as well." And when I turned around in surprise, she was gone. I quickly ran into my room and shut the door, and sagged against it.

"That was a close one, right?" Draco asked from my bed. I hadn't noticed him there until he spoke, so I gave a little start. I noticed he was already dressed. "Did I startle you?"

"A little bit. Sorry." I said, my mind still on Bellatrix's words.

"Yeah, sorry. I don't have anything to do until the party, so I thought I'd get ready and come over here to help you get dressed. And then maybe undressed, and then dressed again." He said with a wicked smile, walking over to me. But as he got closer and saw my face, he quickly became concerned. "What is it?" He said, sitting beside me against the door.

"Bellatrix knows that I know about my parents being here. I think she knows that I've been seeing them." I said, and Draco let out a small gasp.

"How?" Was all he asked, but I shook my head.

"I don't know. But she just threatened me by saying that if I try and escape, she'll kill them." I said, and Draco put his arms around me.

"We won't let that happen, okay?" I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder, but I wasn't sure I believed him. That was the moment, however, that I decided I was going to start searching for answers.

…

I stood in front of my mirror a few hours later, dressed in my outfit and mask, next to Draco in his breathtakingly amazing emerald suit, and matching mask. We looked good.

"We look good." I said, repeating my thoughts. Draco kissed my neck.

"We'll definitely be the best looking couple at this party. Too bad we can't _actually _be a couple." I laughed. There was a knock at the door, and we both panicked for a second, until a soft voice came from the other side.

"It's Narcissa." I went over and opened the door for her, and she quickly slipped in. "All this sneaking around makes me feel like a kid again." She said with a bemused voice.

"You're just such a natural at it, Narcissa." I said.

"I thought I'd find you here, young man." She said, looking at Draco. His face flushed slightly. "Actually, it's very convenient. I was going to ask you if you'd escort Miss Jackson to the party tonight, seeing as how we're trying to keep her from trying anything… sneaky." She said, and we all smiled. Narcissa, you'd done it again, you evil genius.

"But _mum_…" He said, in a fake-whiny voice, but still smiling.

"I'm sorry Draco, but your Aunt Bellatrix insists that Miss Jackson be watched at all times, and you're the only one here who's close to her age. Otherwise it would look strange."

"Ugh. Whatever." He looked at me and smiled.

"You forgot to throw in a "you're ruining my life" somewhere in there, Draco." I said to him, and Narcissa laughed.

"Ooh, good one. I'll save that for next time we're bull-shitting." He said. I loved this man.

We followed his mum out of the room and down the stairs, for once not having to hide being close to each other. Even if it was "fake". As we entered the ballroom, I immediately saw that there were more people than I had expected, which was a little comforting. Not everyone here was a Death Eater, so I would actually be around some normal people. Most of the people here were faces I didn't recognize, although they were probably all Slytherin families, which would explain that. I noticed a few Slytherins from school, and hopefully they wouldn't recognize me too. I did see that Blaise was here, though. It was hard not to notice the tall, dark and too nice to be a Slytherin friend of mine. We made our way over to him.

"Hey Blaise!" I said to him, and he looked surprised to see me.

"Talia! I thought they'd keep you locked up in your room tonight." He said to me, giving me a hug. "You look great, by the way."

"Thanks. Yeah, I thought so too, but I guess the Dark Lord wanted me to be here. So here I am! Are your parents here?" I asked, never having met them before. He nodded.

"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. I'll probably end up ditching before they leave, though."

"Tal!" I heard a voice call my name, a voice that I knew all too well. I looked over to see someone with hair like mine only more auburn, and eyes like mine only darker. Kayla was wearing a red dress, with a red and gold mask, and she looked amazing.

"Kayla! What the hell are you doing here? You could get caught!" I said, but I actually wasn't too upset. Any chance I could get to spend time with my sister, I would take. She did a little twirl to show off her dress to us, but mostly Blaise. Of course.

"Narcissa invited me! Draco, you have one of the coolest mum's on the Earth. She bought me this entire outfit! Well, everything but the ring, of course." She held out her hand to me, and I laughed out loud. Sitting on her finger was a silver wolf's head.

"Are you serious? A wolf's head? That's so hilariously ironic!" I said.

"It was a gift. Sort of a joke from the other wolves when I was old enough to be on my own." She said. She and Blaise hugged, and I almost had to look away. There was obviously the same attraction from that night a few months ago, but there was something else, too. Something deeper. A server came around with trays of champagne and other drinks, and I felt a wave of relief that for once I was the one being served. I just happened to glance in a random direction when I saw my parents, dressed up and in masks, over in the corner talking to some people. My eyes widened, and my friends noticed.

"What is it, Tal?" Kayla asked, and I had to clear my throat.

"Mum and dad are here."

"What, as guests? That's strange. You'd think they were one of these people." She said, watching them with me. When their eyes traveled to us, we quickly turned around. For some reason, I didn't want them to know we knew they were there. I looked over at Kayla, and noticed her fabulous necklace.

"Kay, is that a bowtie necklace?" I asked.

"Of course." She said.

"Bowties are cool." We both said at the same time, and then hugged. That's when the boys decided to pay attention to us.

"Aw, how touching." Draco said.

"Yeah, two nerdy sisters happy to be together again." Blaise said, and they laughed. We faced them with our hands on our hips.

"Draco, you have four horses named after horses from The _Lord of the Rings _books." I said.

"And Talia tells me you've quoted _The Princess Bride_ to her." Kayla said.

"So don't be hatin' on our nerdiness when you're just as much of one." I said, and we fist-bumped each other without looking away from his face. A few seconds of awkward silence passed.

"Blaise loves _Star Wars_! He even has posters of it in his bedroom!" Draco blurted nervously, and we all turned to look questioningly at Blaise.

"Dude! Not cool!" Blaise said, and then gave Kayla a nervous glance. She laughed and affectionately touched his arm.

"Sorry, bro, I panicked." Draco said, and Blaise punched him in the arm.

"Hey, don't hurt my nerdy boyfriend!" I said, and then punched him back.

"Hey! Let's cut the violence and dance with our boyfriends already!" Kayla said, and we all voiced our agreements.

Obviously it wasn't some sort of raging, base-filled, night club type of party. It was slow, waltz-like dancing, people clinking their glasses together, and looking down their noses at people who they assumed were not as good as them. Of course, there were always people like that, especially at this kind of party. Nevertheless, as Draco and I danced together, I couldn't be anything but happy. We danced for hours, until my feet couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, I need a break. I'm going to go sit down." I said, kissing his cheek.

"I'll meet you there with some drinks." He said, and we parted ways. I was making my way to a table where I saw Kay and Blaise when I felt someone grab my hand.

"Well, that was fast—" I said, but was cut off by being jerked around to face my captor.

Greyback.

"You look absolutely… _delicious_ tonight." He said in that low, raspy voice of his. It made my entire body tense up.

"No," I said, scared out of my mind, trying to back up. But he jerked me even closer to his body, grabbed both my arms in his iron-tight grip, and started to smell my neck. I looked around for someone to help me, but no one was paying me any attention. We were just another couple in masks to them.

"You know," He said to me, his mouth extremely close to my ear, "If you don't want me to be this close to you, you shouldn't be so wonderfully mouth-watering. With that tiny, white dress, those juicy red lips, and your pale, naked throat, you're leaving nothing for my imagination." His lips were all but touching my neck, and I was afraid that this was going to get very painful, very fast. But pretty soon I was being pulled away from him and wrapped up in another, friendlier, pair of arms.

"Back off, fluffy." Kayla said, stepping in front of me. The arms that were protecting me were Blaise's, and I had never been so happy to be in them. And when Draco reached us, I threw myself into his embrace, but still staying close to Blaise. The more protection, the better. Greyback looked all of us over, his eyes settling on Kayla, and then laughed.

"Got yourself a wolf of your own, eh? No matter. She's not as old as I am, therefore not as strong. If we weren't surrounded by all these people, I'd rip you all to shreds. Starting with you, little puppy. And I'd save you're beautiful little songbird for last, so she could watch you all die. I find that terror makes the blood so much sweeter." He said, and I cowered into Draco even more. I hated being so defenseless, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't prepared for this waking nightmare of mine.

"You'll never touch her." Draco said, his voice low, but still dangerous. He tightened his arms around me, and I started to feel safe again.

"We'll see, mini-Malfoy. We'll see." He said, and walked out of the room and hopefully out of the country. But something made me doubt that. After waiting a few minutes to be sure he was gone, Draco loosened his grip on me, but didn't let go.

"I need to get out of here." I said, slipping off my shoes. Draco had an arm around my waist still, probably sensing that I'd need help walking, and Blaise took my shoes and bag for me. We went out into the main living room, and Draco and I sat on the stairs. Blaise set my stuff next to me, and put his arm around Kayla, who was giving me a concerned look. "I'm fine, Kay." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked, kneeling down in front of me.

"Yeah, I promise. You can go, if you want." I said, and she hugged me. And then her and Blaise left, hand in hand.

"That was some crazy shit right there." I said, sagging against Draco's side.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner." He said, more upset at himself than I was.

"Hey, no worries. Kayla and Blaise were there for me. And you're here now." I said, and I pulled him into a kiss. It was nice at first, but I kept on getting distracted. At first my mind just couldn't stop going through what had just happened. But then my eyes traveled to a little secret staircase in the corner of the room, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking that we were alone in this room. Finally, not being able to stand it anymore, I got up and headed over there.

"Hey, what are you—Talia, don't go down there." He said, trying to pull me away. But I wouldn't budge.

"Why not? Do you know what's down there?" I asked him.

"No, I told you I didn't. But if the Dark Lord was down there, what makes you think you want to see it?" I didn't answer him. I walked down the stairs, carefully, pulling Draco behind me. It was hard, because every time I heard a noise, I was immediately convinced we were caught. Finally, probably getting a little annoyed, Draco just manned-up and stepped in front of me, taking the lead. The door was locked, so he opened it with his wand. Stepping through, I was _so _not expecting what I saw. My jaw dropped.

"Holy shit."

**A.N. Hey! Longest chapter yet! Just a reminder that you can see the outfits I create for this story on my profile. Also, I forgot to give credit to a song that was in one of the last chapters. It was called Bound to You, from the movie Burlesque. I love that movie.**


	34. Chapter 34

**The _Other _****Prisoners of Malfoy Manor**

"Luna! What are you doing here?" I asked, running up to my blonde friend from Hogwarts. She was dirty, and in some old overalls, but she didn't look too beaten up. Good. If anyone had hurt Luna Lovegood, I'd kill those bastards.

"They came to our house because of the things my father posted about Harry Potter in The Quibbler, and they took me. I think they're trying to use me to get to Harry."

"We have to get you out of here, Luna. You can't be here. Your father must be going crazy." I said to her, but she didn't look all that upset to be here.

"It's not so bad, actually. They haven't really done anything to me since I got here. And, the company is quite lovely." She said, and turned to the corner of the room where a figure sat.

"Is that… Mr. Ollivander?" I asked, and Luna nodded. I looked over at Draco, who looked just as shocked as I was. I walked over to him and crouched down, and sure enough, there was Mr. Ollivander. And he looked miserable. He looked up at me and smiled.

"Hello, Miss Jackson. It's been far too long."

I smiled. "Six years, when you gave me my wand." I put my hand oh his, which was resting on his knee. "How long have you been here?"

"They took me a few weeks before you're sixth year started last year." He said, and my eyes watered up a little bit. I had almost forgotten about how me and my friends visited his abandoned shop last year. "Don't be sad, my dear. This all will be over sooner than we know it." I patted his hand and then stood up, walking back over to Luna.

"Why are you here, Talia?" She asked me. I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Well, It's sort of a long story—" I started, but she cut me off with the most astonishing thing I'd ever heard her say.

"Is it because they found out you were a Siren?" She said, and my jaw dropped.

"Wh—bu—how did you know that I was a Siren, Luna?" I asked her, but she just shrugged.

"There was a quiz in The Quibbler last year that told you if someone's a Siren or not, so I took it for you." She said, as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"Why me?"

"I just thought it would be fun." I was going to ask more questions about it, but I decided to let it go and pursue another topic.

"We need to talk about how to get you out." I said.

"You don't have to do that." Luna said, and I stared at her.

"You want to stay here?" I asked her.

"Not especially. But trying to break us out could be dangerous for you, and you need to stay safe so you can help Harry." I almost started to cry again.

"But Luna, they could kill you down here." I turned to Draco again. "Will you help me?" He opened his mouth to answer, but the answer didn't come from him.

"No." Ollivander said from across the room, and I walked so I was closer to him.

"Why not?"

"Miss Jackson, The Dark Lord is not an idiot. He'd know it was you who helped us."

"But I can't just sit here and do nothing anymore! You guys don't understand! Every day, I wake up, and I die a little inside because I can't do anything! Harry and Ron and Hermione are out there, fighting for their lives, and all of ours, and you guys are in here, sleeping on the cold floor, and I'm living in a mansion, sleeping in a warm bed, doing nothing but cleaning. It's killing me!" My hands were balled into fists, and my face was hot with fury. I was breathing heavily, and by their expressions, my eyes were glowing. I felt Draco grab my shoulders and pull me back towards the party, but I resisted. "Let go of me!" I snarled at him, but he kept his cool.

"We can't stay gone long, Tal, Aunt Bella and the others will start to wonder." I knew he was speaking the truth, so I gave in.

"This isn't over, you guys." I said to them, and left with Draco. But the second we were back at the party and sitting at a table, with our voices lowered, we started talking again.

"Talia, what was that about?" Draco asked me.

"I want to get my friends out of here, that's all." I said, looking down at where my hands were playing with the table cloth. He kept looking at me, seeing right through me.

"That's not everything." He stated, sensing what was going on deeper. I looked up at him for just a second, but it was long enough for him to see the hurt behind my eyes. And then I looked back down.

"I really do want to get them out of here. Seriously. But, also, it's about earlier. With Greyback." I said, and he waited for me to continue. "I used to be such a strong person. I never let anyone in, never cried, and I most certainly never backed down from a fight. But whenever he's around me, when he's so close to me, I freeze up. I'm paralyzed by the overwhelming fear that he gives me. I just wish that I still had the strength to fight back." I said, hastily wiping the tears from my face so no one else saw. Draco swiped a drink from a waiter passing by, and handed it to me. Then he got up, and walked to someone over on the other side of the room, talked to them for a few minutes, and then came back to me.

"I'm about to pretend to be a little harsh and annoyed with you, okay?" He said, and I nodded my agreement. He grabbed my wrist, the drink-free one, and pulled me out of the room. But once we got outside the door, his hand left my wrist and made its way around the small of my back. "Now that's better." He said. I sipped my delicious drink.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"I just thought we'd both had enough of that party, so I told Aunt Bella that I was tired and was going to put you back in your room so I could go to sleep."

"But you're not really?" He smiled.

"Oh, I am. I'll be putting you in your room, and I'll be sleeping, but there are a few details in between that I failed to mention to her." I laughed.

"Oh, how you make me laugh." I said, and we walked up to my room together. I finished my drink by the time we walked through the door. I could tell we were both too tired for other bedroom activities, so it looked like sleeping was really all we'd be doing. Also too tired to bother putting pajamas on, we stripped down to our underwear and crawled under the covers just like that. I flicked my wand to turn off the light, intending on going to sleep in my boyfriend's arms, but the second my head hit the pillow, I realized that it wasn't as simple as that. We were tired, but neither of us seemed to be able to sleep. After a while, Draco talked.

"It won't always be like this with you. You're going through a rough time, without your friends or family, but soon things will be back to normal. I promise." I smiled again.

"You seem to be making a lot of these promises lately." I said.

"Well, I just feel like things are going to change pretty soon."

…

The next day, I was down in the ballroom, cleaning up from the night before. And of course, I was the only one. Big surprise. That Crazy Bitch didn't even have the house elves helping me! I swear, those elves were having the greatest vacation of their lives with me around doing all their work. I was trying to learn how to control my temper better, but I hadn't done a very good job. Of course, I'd only been trying for less than a day, but still. Also, since last night, I'd been strangely depressed, which was making it hard to concentrate on my chores. And when the note flew into my hand from out of nowhere, what was left of my concentration flew out the window.

_Meet us in your room ASAP_

_K_

Short, but I still got the message. Deciding that it had been long enough that it seemed like I'd done all this by hand, I whipped out my wand and it was clean within seconds. I somehow had managed to keep me having my wand from Bellatrix, so I didn't want to push it. Why did Kay want to meet in my room? And how did she get there? And who was this "us" I had to meet? Oh, the curiosity. On my way up the stairs, I ran into Draco, who was heading the same way, coming from a hallway.

"Fancy meeting you here." I said, grabbing his hand.

"Come here often?" He said, smiling.

"Well, seeing as how this is the way to my bedroom, yes I do." I said, matter-of-factly, and he laughed. "Where are you heading?" I asked him.

"Well, I got this note…" He said, and handed it to me to read.

_Meet us in Talia's room, ASAP_

_K_

"What's all this about?" I asked, but he just shrugged. "It sounds serious." He smiled mischievously, randomly pulled me through a little passageway where we were out of sight, and I laughed. "What are you doing? I just said it sounded serious! We should get there!"

"In a minute." And he started snogging me. And don't get me wrong, I was totally getting into it, but my curiosity was winning me over.

"Draco, come on. We'll have plenty of time for _this _later." I said, giving him a smile.

"Promise?" He said in that low, sexy voice he only does for me. I nodded, and we started making our way to my room once again. When we got there, we found Kayla and Blaise pacing around the floor. They looked both excited and annoyed at our arrival.

"Where the hell have you been? We've been waiting for twenty minutes!" Kayla said, dragging me to the bed with her so we could sit.

"Well, we got distracted." I said, giving Draco a secret look. "How did you get up here, anyway?" I asked.

"Blaise snuck us up here. He's brilliant." She said, and gave him an adoring look. Those two were absolutely adorable. "Anyway, we need to get to the point. We're busting you out, Tal!" She said, all excited and stuff, and she appeared to be waiting for me to share in her excitement. But I just stared at her with sad eyes. I shifted my gaze to Draco, who also looked sad, and he nodded, urging me to speak. I turned back to Kayla.

"How, Kay?" I asked, knowing it didn't matter. I just wanted to know. She got even more excited, which just deepened the crack in my heart.

"It's brilliant! I just took this little handbag and put an undetectable extension charm on it! We can put all our stuff into it, anything we might need, and the four of us, plus mum and dad, can sneak out at night when everyone's sleeping! Blaise says he has brooms we can use, and we can go to the camp where I grew up!" My eyes started to water a bit.

"Kay, mum and dad are magically bound to the room they're in. Only Bellatrix can get them out." I said, and her face fell a bit. I didn't want to have to tell her the big truth, so I told her a smaller one. It didn't faze her, as she got excited again with a new idea.

"Well, one of the Werewolves is bloody brilliant with undoing magical enchantments. We can come back with him and he can get them out!" I quickly thought of something else.

"A few of my friends are being held in the dungeons here. I can't leave them." I said. It was a lame excuse, but also the truth. This time she didn't even have to pause.

"That's okay! They can come too! Blaise said he's got plenty of brooms!" She said, and I saw Blaise nod enthusiastically out of the corner of my eye. I sighed.

"Listen, Kay—"

"It's going to be great! You're finally going to be free!"

"Kay, there's something I have to—"

"I can't wait for you to meet my friends! And then, of course, we can find _your _friends and help them—"

"KAY!" I yelled, which I shouldn't have. But I couldn't help it. I needed to get her attention. She looked surprised that I'd yelled at her. I sighed again, closing my eyes, preparing to tell her what I should've told her minutes ago. When I opened my eyes again, everyone was looking at me, waiting for me to explain.

"Kay, there's something I have to tell you. Before I went to the party last night, Bellatrix cornered me and threatened me about escaping." I saw both Kayla's and Blaise's eyes widening in surprise.

"But, I still think this could work…" She started, less enthusiastic than before.

"No, Kayla, you don't understand. She said that if I make any attempt of an escape, even if it succeeds, she'll... kill our parents, Kay." I said, and someone in the room gasped. It must've been Blaise, because Draco already knew this information, and I was looking at Kayla's face the whole time. Her eyes were watering, and I thought her heart might be breaking. She laid back on my bed, trying to hold back her tears. I laid next to her and threw my arm around her.

"It's okay, Kay. Really. We'll get out of here eventually." I said softly to her. She turned to face me.

"How do you stay so calm? You're a prisoner!" She said. I felt the bed shift under more weight, and saw Blaise crawl behind her. Draco did the same, so we were all snuggling on my bed. It was nice. My little family of weirdos. Well, my second little family of weirdos. I still hadn't forgotten my other friends out there.

"Because I'm used to it. Trust me, at first, it wasn't so easy." I felt Draco give a short laugh, rather than heard it.

"Sometimes she _still _loses her cool." He said, and we all laugh a little, the tension diffusing slightly. "But we are getting out of here. We just have to wait. Well, except for Blaise, who has to go back to school in a few days." Kayla suddenly looked sad that he would have to leave, but Blaise looked a little frightened. "What?" I asked him.

"School isn't how it used to be." Was all he said.

"Well, I know that, what with Snape being headmaster and those awful Carrows running around the place." I said, and Draco shuddered. He hated those two.

"You don't understand. I mean, they've been sparing the Slytherins, of course, but it's still a nightmare. They're torturing people, Talia, and calling it discipline. Your Gryffindor friends are getting the worst of it." My eyes were wide with horror. My poor friends.

"Now I really have to get out of here." I said softly. Trying to lighten things up again, Blaise started talking again.

"Plus, now that Malfoy is gone, Pansy has moved on to me." He said, and shuddered with disgust. We all laughed. Except for Kayla, who had a hilariously jealous expression on her face.

"She better keep her grubby little paws off. I'm not above threatening to eat her." She said, and we laughed even harder.

…

I spent the next few nights either with Draco, or with Kayla. Things went back to their relative normality, except for the fact that I had to be extra careful when visiting my parents. Bellatrix seemed to be keeping an even closer eye on them, which made it harder for me to get to them. But I _had _to see them. There was something I had to ask them, what I'd been burning to ask them ever since the Christmas party. Draco had been helping me by telling me whenever she was out on an errand, but every time I took the opportunity, it turned out that she had taken them with her. What the hell was going on? What was she doing with them? One day, when I was cleaning in the hallway by the front doors, I saw Bellatrix leave without them. I watched out the window as she walked to the edge of the property, and then disapparated to somewhere else. I bolted.

I ran down the "Forbidden Hallway of Doom" That my parents lived in, and knocked on the door. My mother let me in, and I saw my dad on the couch. They both had their usual, warm, welcoming smiles for me.

"Why are you out of breath, honey?" My mum asked me as I walked into their room and sat across the couch from my dad. He put down his book to listen.

"Because I don't know how much time I have. But I have to ask you something." I said, and looked at both of them. My mum was still smiling, but my dad looked a little strained, as if deep down, he knew what was coming.

"You can ask us anything." She said. But what I said next wasn't a question.

"I saw you at the Christmas party." I said, and they were both shocked.

"I didn't see you. We assumed that they wouldn't let you go." My mum said. I smiled a little at her, but it was a sad smile.

"Well, of course you wouldn't see me. I was wearing a mask. Kayla was their too, she snuck in." They both laughed a little with me. That was so like her. "Why were you guys at the party? What are you guys _really _doing here?" Was what I'd been wanting to ask this whole time, and finally it was out there. They looked at each other as if deciding what to tell me, and finally I think they settled on the truth. All of it. They sagged in defeat.

"Bellatrix Lestrange has been using the Imperius Curse on us. She's made us Death Eaters." My dad said.

My whole world shattered. Death Eaters. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could that evil monster make my parents into something so horrible?

"But… Draco never mentioned seeing you at the meetings…" I said, my mind still whirling.

"That's because he doesn't know. We don't go to the meetings, because we're not willing Death Eaters. Since they're forcing us against our will, they only use us for the dirty work. Some of it, anyway." My mother said, and I saw the sadness in her eyes for the first time.

"But, doesn't it hurt? The Imperius curse? When it's being used for something so awful?" I asked, and they both nodded. "So, why don't you guys do it willingly and spare yourselves the pain?" I asked. My dad straightened up and looked like the Superman I knew he was.

"Because they make us kill people, Tal, and other terrible things, and we're not those kinds of people. We're not like them. We'd rather be tortured and forced than do something like that willingly." I looked at my mum and she had that same look to her. Determined. I admired them so much.

"You guys are so strong." I said, fighting back tears. My parents were doing the same. It made me think of a few years ago when I had fallen off the broom I was riding, playing Quidditch out behind the Burrow with Fred and George and Charlie, who was on vacation from Dragon training in Romania. I had fallen right into a bush, which was probably the only thing that had stopped me from breaking any bones. I had tried my hardest to fight back the tears. A few seconds after the fall, I felt long, strong arms lift me up and carry me inside where Molly could heal me. I looked up into the brown eyes of Fred, and one single tear escaped through my eye lid and ran down my cheek. He must have seen the betrayal in my eyes.

"You know, it _is _okay to cry once in a while. Georgie over there cries like a baby almost every day." He said, smiling, and I laughed. George made an offended noise.

"I can't. I hate weakness." I said back then.

Thinking back on that memory, I knew he had been right. He was right about a lot of things. I missed him so much. I missed all of them. But I promised myself that I would see them all again, and soon we would all be one big happy family again.

**A.N. Sorry it's been taking so long! I haven't had much time to update, because I've been working so much more lately. Plus, me and my sister have just gotten into this Justice League cartoon, and it's really good.**


	35. Chapter 35

**The Attack**

A few more months passed without any excitement. When I told Draco about my parents being forced into being Death Eaters, he totally freaked out. He was mostly pissed off because his mother hadn't told him about it, but he was also angry for my sake. I told him that she probably had a perfectly good explanation for the secrecy, but he wouldn't listen to me. Telling him about their situation just seemed to make him more eager to get us all out of there, even though we both knew that wasn't going to happen without a miracle. It took him months to confront Narcissa about my parents, and when he did, practically fuming with anger, she sagged back into her chair with guilt. While Draco was pressuring her, I sat next to her on the arm of the chair and put my hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Narcissa. I'm not angry. You can tell us." I said in a soothing tone, giving Draco a sharp look that told him to calm down or I would _make_ him calm down. Narcissa looked up into my eyes with gratefulness.

"When my sister and her followers brought your parents here, I could see the sorrow in their eyes. I knew that there was only one thing that could make a parent feel like that: The loss of a child. I quickly took the opportunity to secretly go to them and comfort them, and we soon became friends. For all these years I've been going to them every chance I got, bringing them good food, entertainment, and just giving them my company. I kept them up to date on the outside world." She said, and I was welling up a bit.

"I'm so glad they had you all this time." I said in a small voice, and Draco rubbed my leg from where he was sitting on the floor, listening to the story. Narcissa continued.

"When you were brought here, Talia, I immediately went to them with the news. I thought they'd be overjoyed with having you here. And they were happy that you were safe, but they were also sad that you were here with these people that would hurt and use you. They were also quite adamant that I didn't tell you exactly what they were doing here, because they thought that knowledge would hurt you even more. Also, they knew if Bellatrix knew you knew they were here, she'd do terrible things to you. So they also made me promise not to tell you they were here. It's too bad they didn't realize I have an incredibly nosy son…" She said, smiling, looking at Draco, and he blushed.

"Thank you for taking care of them, Narcissa. I just hope that we all aren't stuck here forever. No offense." I said to her, and she smiled sadly.

"None taken, my dear." Just then, we heard the front door open with a loud slam, and an even louder shout coming from the Crazy Bitch herself.

"NATALIA JACKSON!" The three of us jumped at the loud sound, and we immediately sprang up. Draco went over to the bookshelf to make himself look busy, Narcissa picked up the book she had been reading, and I grabbed the cup of tea we had interrupted her from drinking. As Bellatrix entered the room, she saw Draco and Narcissa reading, and me handing her a cup of tea.

"Do you need anything else, Mrs. Malfoy?" I asked politely, and she looked up at me with warm eyes, but spoke in a cold voice only a Malfoy could fake.

"That will be all. For now." She said, and turned her head to greet her sister. Bellatrix smiled a little, and spoke in that sickly sweet voice of hers.

"Why, Sissy, if I knew the girl was neglecting her chores because she was serving you, I wouldn't have yelled." She said, but still gave me a harsh look. "Go outside and take care of the garden like you were supposed to. It was very hard to put up that weather barrier to protect it from that harsh winter we just had, so I will be very put out if it doesn't even matter because _you _don't tend to it properly. Draco dear, go out and keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn't try anything. Although she knows what will happen if she does…" She said, giving me an obvious look. Evil Bitch. But Draco and I walked out of the room trying to suppress our grins.

Earlier in the year, when she still suspected us of sneaking around together, we decided to do something to change her mind. So one day, when I was serving him some tea, I purposefully brought him the wrong kind. He puffed up in anger and made him face turn red, but that might have been from struggling to keep a straight face.

"How _dare _you bring me this? I _asked _for Lavender Chamomile, but this is _obviously _Earl Grey. This is my father's tea. Do you want me to have to explain to him why I've been drinking his tea?" He yelled at me, and I lowered my eyes and pretended to grovel.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Malfoy, I promise it won't happen again—" He cut me off with a slap across the face, right over the permanent scars left by Bellatrix earlier. This had all been part of the plan, as we had put a charm on my face to numb it up for a while.

Now, walking outside with each other, we knew that our little skit had worked. When we got outside and closed the door, we burst out laughing. Still not wanting to piss of Bellatrix, we quickly got to work on the garden, pulling weeds and such. Once we were finally completely calm, I trusted my voice to speak.

"See, I told you your mother had a good reason for not telling us. You got all mad for nothing." I said, teasing him. He was down in the dirt, working with me, helping me get everything done faster.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right." He said, a little embarrassed. "So, tell me again, why do you want to get this all done fast? I mean, it's not like we had a bedroom date planned or anything. Although, I wouldn't object to it…" He said, wagging his eye brows at me, making me laugh.

"Maybe later. Last night was the last night of the full moon, so Kayla will be getting back sometime today and we were gonna hang. Maybe do some adventurous horseback riding or something."

"Oh, I see. That sounds fun." He said.

"You could come with us, if you want. She really likes you." I said, but he shook his head.

"No way. You two don't spend enough time together. You need to get some quality sister bonding time in. I'll just sit in my room and do my usual reading." He said, and he actually sounded content with that idea. We didn't talk for a few seconds.

"Definitely plan on some sexy time later, though. That's another thing I haven't had enough of lately." I said, giving him a sexy side glance that bought me a smoldering one in return.

…

I was absolutely filthy after working in the garden, so I went upstairs to take a shower and change. It was just me and Draco in the house now, Voldemort had all of his Death Eaters out on missions. Apparently, he was after something called the Elder Wand, whatever the hell that was. But at least it bought me a day of peace! I'd spend the rest of the day with Kayla, and then come home and spend the night with Draco. Perfection. I even put on a really cute bra for later. It was purple with black lace along the bottom, and I wore the matching underwear as well. But as I looked at myself in the mirror, I changed my mind and put on the ones that were the exact color of my eyes. But then, looking at myself in the mirror still, I realized that I almost _always _wear things because I think Draco will like them. I needed to keep my independence sometimes. So, I once again put the purple ones on. It felt good.

As I walked down the hallway to the Never Ending Staircase, though I was excited to see my sister, I kept my head down, just in case. I knew that the only ones in the house were me, Draco, and Narcissa, but it was still good to be prepared for anything. Even my parents were out with Bellatrix today. It made me nervous, wondering what she was making them do this very moment. I wished I could get them out of here sooner. But, there was nothing to be done about it at the moment. Not being able to contain my eagerness any longer, I hopped down the stairs, a huge smile on my face. But when I was just two or three steps from the bottom, I was suddenly hit with one of the worst headaches I'd ever had. It wasn't one of those normal, stress headaches everybody got. It was one of my special, skull-splitting, mind-numbing, psychic headaches. My hands flew to my head as if to keep it in place, my legs buckled, and I fell down the last few stairs to land on my knees. Narcissa, who had been sitting in her usual spot on the couch, jumped up in alarm and ran over to me, her book lying on the floor, forgotten.

"Talia!" She cried out, and knelt down to my level. She grabbed my elbows firmly but gently, and guided me to a chair. I was still clutching my head, so she ran into another room and came back with a potion that she helped me gulp down. "Is that better?" She asked, and I nodded. The pain was still there, but it was no longer the sharp, throbbing pain from before. Now it was just a dull echo of the pain. "What on earth was that?" She asked me, and I longed to tell her the truth. I really did. But I knew that if I told her the truth, she'd get worried, and she's tell Draco, and he'd be extra worried, and they'd put me in my room and make me stay there. But, I also did not want to lie to her, so I settled for somewhere in between.

"It was just a headache. No big deal. I woke up with it, and it just throbbed a little harder just then. It surprised me, that's all. I have this terrible tendency to clench my teeth in my sleep. Must be all the stress I'm under lately." I told her, planting a smile on my face, hoping she'd buy it. And she did.

"Well, that's a relief. I was afraid it was something serious!" She said, giving a little laugh of relief. But she still seemed to look at me in a way that said she wasn't sure if she should believe me or not. I just laughed casually and stood up. It took all my willpower not to sit down again, because I suddenly felt light-headed.

"Nope, just your average headache."

"Well, I'm glad. If you're sure you're okay, I think I'll head up stairs and take a shower."

"Sounds good!" I said, and left her to go outside. The clean, fresh air was a huge help, and my head finally cleared up. I turned around to make sure Narcissa wasn't still watching me, and I took off running the rest of the way to the stables. Kayla had to hear about this. Someone was in danger. I didn't know who for sure, but I had to make sure she was okay. I burst through the door without knocking, hoping she wasn't naked or something.

"Kayla! Something just happened and I—" I stopped what I was saying, because I looked around to find Kayla not there. That was weird, she should've been back by then. I looked around the room from where I was standing again, and then I started to look behind all the horses in case she was brushing them with her headphones again and couldn't hear me. No, she wasn't here. I looked over at the corner where all of her stuff was, and felt a little relieved when I saw that she had left me a note on her pillow.

_Talia_

_Instead of coming back home right away, I'm gonna go visit Blaise at Hogwarts. We're meeting in Hogsmeade, and then I'll be back in a couple of days. Don't worry, I won't get lost!_

_Kay_

She knew me too well. Of course she'd tell me not to worry. And I was a little disappointed that she wasn't here, but I supposed it was okay. She and Blaise were good together, and since he was back in school, she wouldn't get to see him that much. I just hoped that she'd be careful, now that Snape and the Carrows were running things. And, this meant I'd get to spend more of the day with Draco.

I dropped the note back to the floor, and was just about to turn around and head back into the house when I felt a huge, warm, sweaty hand grab my shoulder from behind me. When I felt his hot breath in my ear, I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. My body went rigid with terror.

"Hello, my pretty little thing. I've been waiting a long time for this. Always watching, always waiting. And finally, we are alone." His hands went to my waist, and he started to sniff my neck. I felt his mouth open as he was about to bite me, and a tear rolled down my cheek. He noticed, and it made him stop. I hoped that it was because maybe he felt a little sympathy for me, but I was wrong. He spun me around so that I was facing him, and I found myself staring into the eyes of Fenrir Greyback. He was holding me very close, much like the kind of embrace Draco and I had been in multiple times. But this one was very, very different.

"Don't cry, Little Songbird. I'm not going to kill you."

And then he went for my throat.

…

Draco POV

I was pacing in my room, a book in my hand, when my mother's soft knock pulled me out of it. I opened the door to find her there, looking normal, if a little weary.

"Is something wrong, mother? You look… worried." I asked her, and she smiled, trying to calm me down. She'd always known how to.

"No, nothing's wrong, my dear. It's just… well, I was just thinking you should keep an eye on Talia for a little while. I don't think she's feeling very well." She said, and I was a little confused.

"That's weird. She was feeling just fine an hour ago when I saw her last." I said, wondering if she was okay. I mean, she was always okay. She's Talia. But she also is the kind of person to not tell someone when something's bothering her. "Is she okay?"

"Oh, I think she'll be just fine. She just had a headache, and it made her trip down the stairs— Draco, what's the matter?" I had tensed up right when she had mentioned the headache, cutting her off.

"Where is she?" I asked quickly, already dashing out of the room.

"She was heading outside…" She might have said more, but I wasn't listening anymore. Nothing else mattered except getting to Talia now. I ran as fast as I could, but this stupid hallway was too long. As I ran past a window, something caught my eye, and I stopped and went back to it. This window overlooked the back of the house, where the stables were. And just as I ran past it, someone was stepping out the door. It was Greyback, and he was wiping something dark off his mouth. As if he could sense me watching him, he turned his head to the window I was at and smiled a huge, toothy smile, and waved at me. And then he was gone. And once again, I was running. I swear to God, if he killed her, I'd kill him, and I'd kill anyone who got in my way. Aunt Bella, My father, even Voldemort. Out of fear, I never used his name, even when me and Talia were talking about him. But if she was gone, nothing would matter to me anymore.

The Never Ending Staircase, as Talia always called it, never felt so long in all my years of living here. It was as if the farther my feet ran, the longer the staircase got. I needed to get to her before… I couldn't even think about what I would find. I was vaguely aware of my mother running after me, calling my name, but I ignored her. I had to get to Talia first.

I burst through the door to the back yard and sprinted as fast as was possible to the stables not having to open the doors, since Greyback had left them open. I swear, it was like he'd wanted me to find her like that. She was on the ground, unmoving. There was blood all over her face, neck, and shoulders, all coming from the draining wound at her neck. As I rushed over to her, praying for a miracle, I cried out with relief at the sight of her open, yet strangely cloudy, eyes. Not caring about getting her blood on me or my suit, I knelt beside her and stroked her face, feeling for a pulse. She had one, and her chest was slowly moving up and down, but she still didn't seem to notice me touching her. I turned her face toward me, and tried speaking to her.

"Tal? Can you hear me? Talia? Please, Tal, you have to say something…" I said softly, stroking her face, trying to get her to speak. She didn't speak, but I did notice when her eyes found mine. The sheer terror in her eyes sent an all to welcome wave of fury through me. My mother was now on Tal's other side, apparently having followed me all the way.

"Draco? We have to get her inside immediately. She's losing a lot of blood, dear." My mother said to me, and I nodded in agreement. I very gently picked up Talia, cradling her against me like a hurt child, and with one hand she grabbed the back of my jacket, and the other she grabbed one of my hands, and she squeezed with what felt like all the strength she had left.

"Draco…" She whispered, almost too quiet to hear, but loud enough to hear the pain.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. I've got you." I said to here, and she relaxed in my arms, passing out. My mother and I were hurrying inside, bringing Tal up to her room. My mother summoned some first aid supplies to follow her.

"What happened to her?" My mother asked, probably rhetorically, but I knew the answer.

"Greyback attacked her. I saw him leave." My mother gasped, and sped up her pace a little, to where she was actually moving faster than me. We couldn't go too fast, wanting to keep Talia as steady as possible, but I took the last few stairs a little quicker than I should have. But she still didn't wake up.

"Draco, she's going to be okay." My mother said, sensing my internal panic as only a mother could. As we got to Talia's room and laid her down on the bed, I noticed that her shirt was open, revealing a lacey, purple bra. Had he done more than drink her blood? The thought made me even more furious, and I had to jump off the bed walk around so I didn't jostle her awake. "Draco, just stay calm—" But I was too angry to listen, so I just interrupted her.

"I'm going to bloody murder him! How dare he lay a finger on _my_ Talia? He almost killed her! And he violated her while doing it!"

"Draco—" My mother was still trying to calm me down, but it still wasn't working. I knew I wasn't in my right mind, but I didn't care. I wasn't seeing straightly.

"You know, once when we were at school, we were talking about our worst fears. And do you know what hers was? This. Werewolves. Being attacked by one. And he did it. He did this to her…" I trailed off, not wanting to continue. My mother was still saying my name, trying to get me to sit down, but I just ignored her. She even got up and left Talia to come over to me, which made me even angrier.

"Leave me alone, mother. Go make sure she's okay." I said.

"She'll be fine, Draco. You need to calm down right now before you do something that you'll regret."

"I'm not going to calm down, _mother_—"

"Draco…" The quiet, weak voice of Talia barely reached us, but it was enough for me. I hurried over to her, my anger forgotten for the moment. I grabbed her hand.

"How are you feeling, love?" I asked, making my voice as soft as possible.

"Like shit." She said, and to my surprise, she laughed. This made her hurt even more, so she went back to whispering. "Ow."

"Just take it easy, dear, alright?" My mother said, and Talia nodded.

"What happened, Tal? What did he do to you?" I asked her. My mother gave me a sharp look.

"Leave her alone, Draco." She said, but Talia grabbed her hand and gave both mine and hers a reassuring squeeze.

"It's okay, Narcissa." She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them again. "I went into the stables looking for Kayla, but she wasn't there. I found a note that she left me saying that she had decided to visit Blaise at Hogwarts instead of coming home right away. That's when Greyback cornered me. He said he wasn't going to kill me, and then he attacked me. He…" She trailed off, eyeing her open shirt, and I could tell it was hard for her to remember this. "He didn't rape me, but he definitely enjoyed feeling me up." She said, and I got a little angry. I must have put a little too much pressure on her hand, because she looked at me. "Hey, I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Well, yeah, but you almost weren't. And I'm going to kill him for that." She roughly grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me down closer to her face, and glared at me with those beautiful eyes of hers.

"Draco Malfoy, I forbid you to say anything like that again. You're not a murderer." She said sternly.

"Tal—"

"No! I forbid it!" She said again.

"But—"

"Forbidden!" She whisper-yelled, and that made me laugh. My mother started to clean her up, dabbing at her neck and shoulders. We heard a screeching voice from downstairs that could only belong to the Crazy Bitch otherwise known as my aunt. My mother sighed.

"I suppose I should go down and talk to her. Draco, take over for me here." She said, handing me the rag. I went around to Tal's other side, squeezed the rag in the bucket of clean water, turning it from clear to pink. This bothered me, so I quickly looked away. Before my mother left, she gave a reassuring look to Talia.

"Don't worry, my dear. You'll be just fine. You'll have to stay in bed for a couple weeks, though." She said, and Talia's face turned into a cute little pout, so I couldn't resist from leaning down and lightly kissing her stuck out lip. Mother laughed. Look at it this way, Talia. No working for my sister for a few weeks." She said, and the instant change Talia's face had made me laugh out loud.

"Yes!"


	36. Chapter 36

**The Escape**

Basically, it started off as the best week of my life at Malfoy Manor. I got to lay in bed all day for the first few days, but Narcissa said after that I should get up and walk around for a few minutes every day, just to regain my strength. It gave Draco an excuse to walk me around in front of everyone, without them guessing about our relationship. Just like Narcissa said, I didn't have to do _any_ work for Bellatrix. It was awesome. What was also awesome was when Draco had to help me shower every night. That was very enjoyable. He also stayed with me, slept next to me, every night, just in case I needed something.

My parents snuck up to see me a few times, which I got annoyed at them for. It was not worth getting caught by Bellatrix to come see me, when I was going to be just fine. Kayla came up to see me once she got back, absolutely furious that no one had sent her an owl or something sooner. She also felt extremely guilty, saying that this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't gone to visit Blaise. I told her she was being ridiculous, but she just kept on moping about it. She should've been there to protect me, it was all her fault, blah blah blah. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. I should have been able to protect myself, but I couldn't. I made a silent promise to myself that the next time I was in a position like that, I wouldn't be afraid. I would take care of myself.

Draco brought me three meals a day, and sent me up snacks when he thought I'd want them. I have to admit, I might have been milking this whole thing just a bit. But I couldn't help it. I was in paradise. The only thing that I wasn't enjoying was that I couldn't go down to the dungeons and see Luna and Ollivander. Draco assured me that he'd been sneaking down there to make sure they were alright, and even bringing them some food when he could. He said that Luna was fine, but that Voldemort was being pretty hard on Ollivander. He also told me that someone else was down there now, a goblin. What the hell did they want with a goblin, anyway?

On the night that I woke up to find Draco missing from my bed, I thought nothing of it. He was probably just going to the bathroom or something. It must have been really early in the morning, because there was hardly any light outside. As I decided I wasn't going to be getting back to sleep any time soon, and I reached for my glass of water from the nightstand, I heard a shrill, terrified scream come from downstairs. I dropped the glass on the floor, and it shattered into a million little pieces. Who was that? Whoever it was, I tried my best to get downstairs to find out. But, apparently I still wasn't okay enough to walk on my own, because I fell to the floor the minute I stood up. I was panicking by that point, I had to get downstairs. I knew that scream wasn't from Draco, but what if something happened to him? Or what if that scream was from someone I cared about? After ten minutes of struggling to the door, I had almost made it. As my hand was reaching for the doorknob, I heard a familiar _pop_ from behind me, and turned to see none other than Dobby the House Elf.

"Dobby! What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Dobby has come to res—what has happened to Miss Talia?" He asked, walking over to me.

"Don't worry about it, Dobby! Just tell me what's going on down there!" I shouted, and that seemed to frighten him a little. But I didn't care.

"Dobby has been told to take you away from here, Miss Talia. Dobby is supposed to take you where he took the others!" He grabbed my hand, still stretching for the doorknob.

"Take me where? No, wait! Dobby stop!" But it was too late. I felt the familiar pull of apparation, and the next second I was on a beach, in the wet sand, looking at Luna and Ollivander and the goblin. Standing behind them were my parents, and even Kayla. I turned around to tell Dobby to go back for Draco, but he had already left. I screamed in frustration.

…

Draco POV

I was pulled out of a deep sleep by my mother gently shaking my shoulder. I was about to get really annoyed, but then I saw the look on her face. I gently jumped out of bed.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"You have to come downstairs right now. It's an emergency." She said. I leaned over to shake Talia awake. "No leave her here. She'll be safer." And without another word I followed her. I had fallen asleep in my suit last night, so I didn't have to worry about getting dressed. When we were safely outside Talia's room, I raised the volume of my voice.

"Mother, what is going on?" I asked her again. She turned to me and put both hands on either of my shoulders, and looked into my eyes with such urgency that I became extremely worried.

"Some snatchers have brought who they believe to be Harry Potter here. Bellatrix has asked me to get you, because she thought that since you know him the best, you'd be able to recognize him." My eyes widened at this.

"Wouldn't anyone be able to recognize him? Those glasses and that scar are pretty hard to miss." I said, although I knew it was no time for jokes.

"There's something wrong with his face, like he's had an allergic reaction to something. Draco, do you know what this means?" I stared blankly at her, until my mind finally comprehended what she was saying.

"This could be Talia's way out of here." I said, hope pulling at my insides. My mother nodded.

"Exactly, which means that you can't let them know for sure if it's him, because if they find out it is and they call the Dark Lord, things will get a little more complicated." I nodded, and we hurried downstairs. And there they were, Harry Potter and his friends, Hermione and Ron. All these years I'd spent hating them all, and now I was going to save them. Or try to, at least. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't think I would. Well, maybe Hermione did. She knew about me and Talia. I wondered if she'd told the others. My mother urged me on, giving me a little nod, toward Bellatrix and my father. Bellatrix held Harry by the hair, her wand to his throat.

"Well? Is this Harry Potter?" She asked, her voice frantic. I leaned closer to him, though I already knew it was him.

"I… I can't be sure." I said, trying to make my voice sound uncertain.

"Look closely, son. If we were the ones to hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything would be forgiven. All would be as it was before, do you understand?" My father said, and I looked at the hope in his eyes. I was almost starting to feel sorry for him, but not enough to give up Harry. This was too important. This was my only chance to get Talia out of here.

"Now we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy." Said the head snatcher, Scabior, which was a bad move. My father turned on him.

"You dare to talk to me like that in my own house?" He yelled.

"Lucius!" My mother hissed at him, and pulled him back.

Bellatrix reached out to me, and pulled me closer to Harry. "Don't be shy, sweetie, come over. Now, if this isn't who we think it is, Draco, and we call him, he'll kill us all. We need to be absolutely sure." She said, perhaps more insane than usual. I tried stalling for time.

"What's wrong with his face?" I asked, and Bellatrix looked up at everyone else.

"Yes, what's wrong with his face?" She asked anyone, but Scabior answered.

"He came to us like that. Something he picked up in the woods, I reckon." My aunt didn't buy it.

"Or ran into a stinging jinx. Was it you, dearie?" She asked, and walked behind us. Harry and I were staring at each other, and I wished I could talk to him right now. But it was too dangerous. Instead, I tried to tell him that I was on his side with my eyes. I wasn't sure if he could see it. "Give me her wand. We'll see what her last spell was." She must've been talking about Hermione. That wasn't good. Bellatrix was known for torturing people to get what she wanted out of them. My mother came over to me to stand by me. "Ah, got you." She said to Hermione, laughing, but walked past her when she saw something else. She gasped. "What is that? Where'd you get that from?" She asked urgently, to a snatcher who was holding a brilliant looking sword with red rubies on it. The sword of Gryffindor?

"It was in her bag when we searched her. Reckon it's mine, now." He said. Man, these snatchers weren't very smart. This pissed off Bellatrix big time, and she started attacking all the snatchers. That's when I realized that one of them was none other than Fenrir Greyback, the monster who had almost killed Talia. I tried to get up so I could kill him myself, but my mother held me down, giving me a warning look.

"Are you mad?" Scabior yelled ta my aunt, but it was no use. Those guys were toast.

"Go! Get out!" She yelled at them, and they all rushed for the door. Watching Greyback leave, unharmed, was the worst thing I had ever done. She came over to us.

"Cissy, put the boys in the cellar. I want to have a little conversation with this one. Girl to girl!" She said, grabbing Hermione. My mother dragged Ron and Harry down to the dungeon where they were keeping Luna and Ollivander and the goblin. I waited until Bellatrix was distracted with Hermione before running down there to follow them. Once I heard Hermione's screams, I knew that Talia would wake up. I just hoped she'd be smart enough to stay where she was. But she probably wouldn't. I ran down the stairs to the dungeon to see Ron frantically screaming for Hermione. When he saw me he just got even angrier.

"Get out of here, you worthless, slimy little g—" He started, but I cut him off. We were kind of in a hurry.

"Just be quiet for a second so I can explain. Listen to me, I'm on your side!" I said, looking from him to Harry, hoping one of them would believe me. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"What makes you think we'll believe you?" He said.

"Yeah, why should we?" Ron said, still keeping his eyes up to where Hermione was.

"Because of Talia!" I said, and I saw comprehension on their faces. "She's here, and I've been trying my best to keep her safe. But she was just attacked last week by Greyback, so she's pretty weak right now. You have to get her out of here. I promised her I would get her out of here, and you guys are my only chance of keeping that promise." I said. I wished there was something I could do to make them believe me, and then I saw Luna come out from her little corner. Thank God. "Luna! Tell them!" I said desperately.

"It's true, Harry. Malfoy has been taking very good care of Talia. And us, too. He brings us food and water when she can't, and helps Ollivander with the pain." She said, and Ollivander stepped out from the dark, also. Ron clicked some little device and the room lit up. Just then Hermione's screams got even worse, and Ron looked up.

"We have to do something!" He said.

"There's no way out of here. We've tried everything!" Ollivander said, and I nodded.

"It's enchanted." I said, trying to think of a way out. I had nothing. Harry knelt down and pulled something out of his sock.

"You're bleeding, Harry. That's a curious thing to keep in your sock." Luna said, and I nodded in agreement. Harry looked into what looked like a little mirror fragment.

"Help us." He said to it, and nothing happened right away. Just then there were footsteps from behind me, so I straightened up. It was only Wormtail, though. He was such an idiot.

"What are you doing down here?" He asked me, and I gave him my trademark Malfoy Sneer.

"I'm watching them. Making sure they don't try anything. And how is that any of your concern?" I said, and he looked down in shame. But when he reached the door, his voice was once again harsh.

"Back up. You, Goblin, come with me. Now." He said, and pulled the goblin from the room. When they were upstairs, I went back to the door. Just then we heard a _pop_ in the room, and my old house elf, Dobby, appeared out of thin air. My face lit up. This was it!

"Dobby!" I said.

"Dobby?" Harry said, and Dobby seemed delighted to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter, of course. Dobby will always be there for Harry Potter." The elf said.

"Are you saying you can Apparate in and out of this room? Could you take us with you?" Harry asked.

"Of course, sir, I'm an elf." Under any other circumstances, I would have laughed at that. But this was serious.

"Works for me." Ron said.

"Dobby, I want you to take Luna and Mr. Ollivander to—" Ron cut him off.

"To Shell Cottage on the outskirts of Tinworth. Trust me." He said, giving both me and Harry a look.

"Dobby, There's also some people in the North Wing guest suite that you need to rescue too, okay? Get them out, and then go to the guest room that's in the same hallway as my room, and get her. Please." Dobby looked at Harry. He nodded.

"Go ahead, Dobby. It's okay."

"Whenever you're ready, sir." Luna said, and Dobby looked delighted.

"Sir? I like her very much." He said, pointing to Luna. He then walked over to her and Mr. Ollivander, and grabbed their hands. "Meet me at the top of the stairs in 30 seconds." He said to Harry and Ron, and then, with another _pop_, he was gone. I sagged against the wall with relief. I looked over to see Harry and Ron looking at me with strange looks, like they were trying to decide what to think of me. Whatever they decided on, I didn't care. As long as Talia got out of here. I turned to them.

"Promise me you'll look after her." I said, and they nodded slowly.

"We're pretty sure she can take care of herself, though." Ron said, and all three of us smiled in agreement.

"Usually. But she's still recovering from that bite. Those things take a long time to recover from, especially for her. She can hardly even walk by herself now." I said, and Ron nodded.

"What do you mean, 'especially for her'?" He asked me, and I gave him a look.

"I think we all know what I mean." I said, and I guessed they hadn't thought that she would tell me her secret. "I have to go. Thank you." I said meaningfully, and went upstairs to be with my mother again. Bellatrix was now interrogating the goblin.

"I'm only going to ask you once more, goblin. Think very, very carefully before you answer." She said. The goblin kept calm.

"I don't know."

"You don't know? Why weren't you doing your job? Who got into my vault?!" She asked again, very harshly. I didn't want to watch anymore, so I let my gaze wander. When it found Hermione's nearly lifeless body on the floor, I cringed. The image was almost exactly how Talia had looked on the floor of the stables that day. "Who stole it? Who stole it! Well?" Bellatrix was still yelling at the goblin.

"When I was last in your vault, the sword was there." He said positively.

"Oh, well then, perhaps it just walked out on its own, then." Bellatrix said sarcastically.

"There is no place safer than Gringotts." He said.

"Liar!" She yelled, and cut him across the face with her knife. "Consider yourself lucky, goblin. The same won't be said for this one." She said, walking back over to Hermione. By this time, I could see Harry and Ron inching up the steps.

"Like hell." Ron said, and they sprung out from hiding. "Expelliarmus!" He shouted, attempting to disarm my aunt. It worked. Harry caught her wand, and used it to stun my father. They started to battle me and my mother, although all four of us were holding back, knowing that we were all on the same side here.

"Stop!" I heard my aunt shriek, and we all turned to see her holding her wand to Hermione's throat. "Drop your wands! I said drop them!" They both dropped their wands to the floor. "Pick them up, Draco." She hissed at me, and I immediately followed her orders. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. It's Harry Potter! He's all bright and shiny and new again, just in time for the Dark Lord. Call him." She said to us, but I didn't move my hand. "Call him!" She said again, and my father walked up from behind me and ripped his sleeve away. Figures. Just as he was about to summon the Dark Lord, we all heard a squeaking from above. I almost smiled when we all looked up to find Dobby, hanging from the chandelier, loosening it to make it fall right on top of Bellatrix. A few seconds later, it dropped, and Bellatrix and Hermione each fell in opposite directions, my aunt screaming. Ron grabbed Hermione, and Harry came over to me, and I gave him all the wands, even mine, though we made it look like it was a struggle. Once again, Harry stunned my father back, and they all ran to the middle of the room.

"Stupid elf! You could've killed me!" Bellatrix yelled.

"Dobby never meant to kill. Dobby only meant to maim or… seriously injure." My mother made it seem like she was about to do something, but Dobby snapped his fingers and her wand flew out of her hands.

"How dare you take a witches wand! How dare you defy your masters?" Bellatrix screamed at him. Dobby stood up straight and looked her right in the eyes.

"Dobby has no master. Dobby is a free elf! And Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!" And with that, they all grabbed onto him and they apparated out of here. Bellatrix threw her wand at them in one last, desperate attempt, and to my astonishment it actually made it before they had completely vanished. I hoped it didn't hurt anyone. While everyone was distracted, I took my chance and ran to the room where Talia's parents were being held. I knew for a fact that Kayla had crashed with them last night, so I hoped she was still there when Dobby got them out. _If_ Dobby got them out. I sprinted down the long, dark hallway, until I came to their room. I burst open the door to see no one there, though a fire was still going in the fireplace. I looked around the room, and then I checked the bedroom and the bathroom, and they were nowhere to be found. Thank God. Then I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, because I needed to make sure she was gone. I quickly opened her door.

"Talia!" I shouted, before realizing that she was gone. Just to be sure, I looked everywhere. I looked on the other side of the bed, I even looked under the bed, and I checked the bathroom. Empty. I dropped to the floor with immense relief. She was gone. She had made it out.

But I also felt sudden sorrow. What if I never saw her again?


	37. Chapter 37

**The Cottage on the Beach**

I knelt there in the sand for a few more minutes, waiting for Dobby to return. I had this stupid little thought inside my head that maybe, just maybe, he'd come back with not only Ron and Harry and Hermione, but Draco also. I looked behind me to see my friends and family waiting for me to say something.

"Could someone please help me up? I can't walk…" I said, to no one in particular, and my dad stepped forward and scooped me up in his arms. He hadn't held me like this for years. "Thank you." I whispered, suddenly exhausted for no apparent reason. He started to walk back to mum and Kay, but when he past them and kept walking, I got concerned. My mother and sister followed us. "Wait, stop. Can't we wait and make sure they get back okay?" I asked, and my parents looked at each other.

"Don't worry, we'll wait for them." Luna said, and the others nodded. My family started to walk again, and I looked up at the house for the first time. It was an adorable, little cottage, and I immediately recognized it as the cottage that me and the Weasleys used to visit all the time. Shell Cottage.

"Hello?" My mother called, wondering if anyone was home. We heard movement coming from the stairs, and a second later, two people came into view. Bill and Fleur.

"Talia?" He asked, as if unsure.

"Bill!" I exclaimed, and he ran over to hug me. He was smart enough to be gentle. He didn't even notice who I was with until my mother spoke.

"Bill, you've grown up so much. Very tall." She said, and he looked at them.

"Sean? Melissa? _Kayla_? I thought you all were dead. Everyone thought that." He said, hugging them all. We walked into the living room, where my dad set me down on the couch, and Fleur brought me a blanket.

"Yes, we're well aware of what everyone thought." My mum said, and Bill looked at my sister.

"What happened to you, sweetie?" He always used to call her that. She moved her hair back to show him her bite marks from when Greyback turned her.

"Greyback. I'm told he got to you, too." She said, and Bill's face fell.

"Yes, but thankfully I wasn't completely turned. Are you—?" She nodded, and that made him sad. He looked over to me, and noticed the bandage on my neck. "Should I ask what happened to you?"

"Take a wild guess." I said, deadpan, and his eyes widened. "Don't worry, I wasn't turned. That lunatic had no intention of killing me. He knew how valuable I was to the Dark Lord. He just wanted to play." I said, my voice getting bitter, and Bill got pretty angry.

"That monster needs to be stopped." He said.

"I theenk we 'ave more important theengs to worry about at the moment." Fleur said, and we all followed her gaze out the window, where Harry and Ron and Hermione and Dobby had just appeared on the beach. I stared in horror as Dobby's tiny little body started to weave, and then collapse, and Harry caught him. After a few minutes, the others left those two alone to come inside. I wished I could get up on my own, or I would have run to meet them. When they finally made it inside, their faces were extremely grim.

"What is it?" I asked them. Ron looked at me.

"Dobby's dead. Bellatrix threw her knife at him when we apparated." He said. I swore under my breath. Instead of standing still, Ron and Hermione ran to me and enveloped me in a huge, bone breaking hug. I missed them so much.

"Talia, we've been so worried about you!" Hermione said when they pulled back, almost crying. I reached out and stroked a lock of her hair.

"Yeah, we kept on wanting to come save you. But we had no idea where you were. And Harry kept on saying that you'd want us to finish getting the Horcruxes first, because that was more important." He said, and I lightly punched his shoulder.

"You're damn right! And anyway, I was being taken care of." I said, but Ron lightly touched the bandage on my neck, while Hermione surveyed the scar on my cheek.

"Yeah, we can see that." Ron said sarcastically. Hermione stood up.

"Ron, we should go. We have to help Harry bury Dobby."

"Right." Ron said, and he stood up as well. Before they got too far, I spoke up.

"You guys? Can I come too? I never got to thank him. For saving me." I said, and Ron came over and picked me up. When we got outside, Hermione carrying Dobby wrapped up in a sheet, Ron set me down so we could all throw sand in the hole, covering him up. When it was all finished, we stood up, and Harry marked the gravestone with words saying "Here lies Dobby; a free elf." That was nice. We could tell that Harry wanted to be left alone with him for a bit, so we left. But before we did, I whispered to the silent grave.

"Thank you, Dobby. You saved my life. I'll never forget you." And we went back inside.

...

We were sitting around the table, drinking some warm tea, waiting for Harry. It was silent, because no one felt like talking. But then my mother decided to break the silence.

"Do you need anything, Talia? A warmer jacket, maybe? Do we need to change your bandage at all?"

"No, mum, I'm fine. Honest."

"Well, I think we'll at least take care of that wound. Bill? Fleur? Do you have anything—?"

"Yes, of course. We'll go get it." Bill said, and they left the table. Hermione looked up.

"So this is your family, Tal. I'm so happy you found them." She said, smiling over at me. I smiled back.

"Me, too. Told you they weren't dead." I told her, and she looked embarrassed. "Don't sweat it, Herman." She groaned.

"I hate it when you call me that." I laughed. She looked at Kayla. "You and your sister look just like each other." She said.

"Yeah. They always have." Ron said, and Kayla ruffled his hair. Bill and Fleur came back with the stuff, and my mum and dad both helped clean and bandage me up again.

"What happened?" Hermione asked me.

"Greyback decided that I was a suitable snack." I said, and both her and Ron looked appalled, and glanced at Bill. And then Ron looked at Kayla.

"Weren't you killed by Greyback?" He said, and I wondered how many times we were going to have to go through all this explaining.

"Obviously not, since I'm sitting right here, talking to you."

"So you're a…" He seemed afraid to ask. She sighed.

"A werewolf, yes. Very good reasoning skills." She said. That's when Harry finally walked in. He looked like he was on a mission. But, first, he came over to me and gave me a hug just like the one the other two had given me.

"I'm so glad you're safe." He said.

"Thank you for helping rescue me, Harry." I said. He pulled back.

"Yeah, about that. After all this is over, you're going to have some serious explaining to do about Malfoy." He said, and I had a feeling my face turned red. He walked away, as if needing just a little time by himself still. Or finishing up the details on whatever master plan he had going on in his head. Luna walked into the room.

"It's beautiful here." She said, eyeing a wind chime.

"It was our aunts. We used to come here as kids. The Order uses it now as a safe house. What's left of us, at least." Bill told her as he and Fleur prepared something to eat for all of us.

"Muggles think these keep evil away. But they're wrong." Luna said. Just then, Harry came back again, looking determined.

"I need to talk to the goblin." He said, and then he and Bill went upstairs, followed by Hermione and Ron. I started to get up to follow, but Ron gestured me to stay down and rest. I pouted.

…

"You're going to do what? Are you guys crazy?!" I said to them, loudly, a few hours later when we were in the living room, and they were telling me their plan.

"I think you know the answer to that." Ron said, but I didn't laugh. Not this time.

"Do you guys realize how dangerous this is?" I asked, and they all nodded.

"We have to. There's a Horcrux in Bellatrix's vault." Harry said. Well, that changed things a little.

"Well, then, when are we leaving?" I asked, excited to finally be able to help them. They looked at me with sad expressions. "What?"

"Well, Tal, we were thinking that maybe you should stay here. You're still pretty weak." Hermione said, and I got mad.

"This is crazy! You guys have no idea how maddening it was to be cooped up in that awful mansion, abused," I said, gesturing to my cheek, "While you guys were all out here saving the world and shit! All I've wanted for the past year was to be able to help you guys!" I said, and I could tell they felt bad. And deep down, I knew they were right. I still had healing to do. But that didn't mean this didn't hurt still.

"We know, Tal. We're sorry! And you _will_ help us, alright? This isn't over yet." Harry said, and I believed him. "Just do us a favor and sit this one out, okay?" I took a deep breath, calming my nerves. Hermione was giving me a funny glance.

"What?" I asked her.

"Well, for a moment, it looked like… I don't know. Maybe it was just the light." She said, but I had a feeling it wasn't just the light.

"You saw my eyes turn green for a moment, right?" I asked, and she nodded.

"But I thought that only happened when you sang." Ron said. I shook my head.

"Lately it happens all the time, when I'm emotional. Angry, sad, super excited…" I said.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. Probably because I've been working on controlling it more." They all looked at me with surprise. "Well, I had to, didn't I? Voldemort practically threatened me into doing it! Thank God you guys got me out of there, or I would have been his personal secret weapon or something." I said.

"Can you show us?" Harry asked, and I nodded.

"Stand aside, peasants." I said, waving them away with my hand. They all laughed at my familiar Talia-humor. I took in a huge breath, targeted a glass on a shelf across the room, and with one belt of my voice, it, and only it, shattered into a million pieces. I quickly repaired it with my wand, and the other three came back to sit by me.

"That was bloody brilliant." Ron said, and I laughed.

"That's not all, either. I can totally control people's minds. If I wanted, I could make one of you walk right out into the ocean and drown yourself." I said, and they looked impressed. "Or I could make Rona and Hermione go at each other." I said, giving them a look. Harry leaned over, close to my ear.

"That wouldn't take much persuasion, these days." He whispered. I giggled.

"Are you guys sure you don't need me?" I asked, giving them a cute little puppy dog face.

"Tal, you know we'll always need you. It's just, right now, we need you to be here." Harry said. I tried one last time to convince them.

"But, I'm almost all better! You guys didn't even need to carry me around today. Look!" I said, and I stood up, and put my hands on my hips. But then I got a huge head-rush, and had to sit back down again. "Whoa." I said.

"Exactly." Harry said, and they stood up. Time to go, I guessed. He looked down at me and smiled. "I reckon that in just a few days, you'll be back to the old ass-kicking Talia we know and love."

"Damn straight." I said, and the boys went outside with the goblin while Hermione went to the bathroom. A couple minutes later, Bellatrix Lestrange emerged, and I hand to actually physically hold my hand back from grabbing my wand and attacking her. "That's… very accurate." I said, and she could tell how hard this was for me. She gave me an apologetic stare, and then joined the others outside. I waited until I saw them disappear, and then I got up.

"Hey Bill?" I called, and he immediately ran to my side.

"What's up?"

"I'm exhausted. Can you show me where I can crash?" He nodded, and started to pick me up. "No no, I don't need to be carried. Just guide me there." He laughed, and kept one hand on my back. I supposed I could live with that.

…

Despite how tired I had been, that night was very restless. I kept on worrying about my friends, even though I knew they could handle this. They've all been through worse. I also wished I could be with them, but even I had to admit now that I wasn't strong enough at the moment. And mixed in with all these worried feeling for my friends, was, of course, worried feelings for my boyfriend. I wished that Draco could have come with us here. Maybe him being here would have made me having to stay behind a little easier. But, I'm sure he was doing okay. I was just missing him.

I might have been nodding off when the sun started to rise, but I wasn't sure. Pretty soon, at probably somewhere around ten o'clock in the morning, I heard voices coming from downstairs. I figured that it just meant that I was the last one to get up, but I didn't care. I was going to stay in bed for a little while longer. I was just starting to fall asleep, once again, when I heard Bill's voice calling to me from downstairs.

"Talia? If you're awake, could you come downstairs, please?" I groaned, but got up none-the-less. I walked, very slowly, to the door.

"I'll be down in a minute." I called groggily, and started to look around the room for some fresh clothes to change into. I slowly made my way downstairs, ignoring all the voices. Still half asleep, I randomly yelled out, "Did anyone make any tea?"

"Mint Chamomile, right?" Asked a familiar voice, one that I had missed the most this past year. Ignoring my weak state and dizziness, I bolted the rest of the way downstairs to find all the Weasleys, minus Ginny and Ron, standing around in the kitchen. My mother and Molly were talking, catching up, while my dad and Arthur were sitting at the table with Charlie and Bill. Everyone turned to look at me, smiling, but I immediately ran for the two twins in the middle of the room, who were already waiting for me. I threw myself into their arms, and started to cry.

"Freddie! George!" They tightened their arms around me, and I could tell they missed me too. When they pulled away, they were smiling, but I could tell that they were fighting back tears also. Softies.

"Are my eyes deceiving me?" Asked Fred.

"Or is Talia Jackson actually crying?" Asked George, and I laughed.

"Yeah, well, this past year has pretty much broken me." I said, and we all hugged again. I went around and hugged everybody again, and we talked for a little bit. Caught up. But I really just wanted to be alone with the twins for a little bit. It had been so long since we talked, and I missed it. After a little while, Fred gestured to George and I, and we got up. But, having a second thought, I gestured to Kayla to come with us. We all hurried outside, and sat on the hill overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful, just as amazing as I remembered it.

"Do you remember coming here, Kay? Us and the Weasleys once vacationed here together." I said, and she thought about it.

"A little. Isn't that when you three convinced Ron to run into the water naked?" For a few seconds, it was silent, and me and Fred and George all looked at each other. And then we burst out laughing.

"I totally forgot about that!" I said.

"That was the best!" George said.

"And then he got that crab stuck to his ass, and cried for an hour!" Fred said.

"That was so worth the grounding." I said. We all nodded in agreement. It took a few more minutes for us all to calm down, and I thought that maybe I wouldn't have to explain everything to them. But, as always, Fred was able to read me like a book. He broke the silence.

"Tal, you can't just sit there and wait for us to ask you about this gigantic elephant in the room. Or, rather, the gigantic elephant on the beach."

"Yeah, what happened? Where have you been?" George asked.

"And start from the beginning. We want to know everything." Fred said. I took a big breath, and plunged into it.

"Well, I suppose it all started at school last year…" I began, and went into everything. I went through my amazingly hot affair with Blaise Zabini, and they were surprised, and then my even hotter affair with Draco Malfoy, to which they were almost outraged. Kayla punched Fred in the shoulder when he started to yell at me, so they shut up and let me continue. I went through me finding out about him being a Death Eater, and me telling him about my special abilities. And then I got into the invasion, and them taking me to Malfoy Manor, and Draco protecting me from the wrath of his Crazy Bitch aunt. I told them about the little show that Voldemort made me put on, and how I lost control and almost killed everybody. And how much I liked it. I told them about finding my parents, and then finding Kayla, and especially how amazing both Draco and his mother had been to us.

"What happened to your neck?" Fred asked.

"I'll get to it." I said.

"What happened to your cheek?" George asked.

"I'll get to it!" I yelled, and they laughed. I explained everything, even about Draco's _Lord of the Rings_ horses. The twins even slightly nodded in approval, which gave me hope. Finally, I got to how Bellatrix scarred my cheek, and everyone winced when I told them. I told them about finding Luna and Ollivander down in the dungeons. And if they were troubled by Bellatrix slapping me, that was nothing compared to the horror in their eyes when I told them about Greyback attacking me. They both attacked me with hugs, but were careful about my neck. When they leaned back again, they looked angry.

"Someone needs to stop that monster once and for all." Fred said, and George nodded.

"Yeah, that's what everyone else said. Trust me, I'm working on it. There's no one else I'd rather see dead. Well, except for the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange, of course." I said, and they all nodded grimly. It was quiet for a little while, while we all contemplated my story. But then Fred spoke up.

"Can I just ask one thing?" He asked.

"Go ahead." I said.

"Why Malfoy? Isn't it awkward? He's such a bastard. How did that even happen? Is he forcing you or something? Got you under some spell? Last time I checked, you hated the git." He said. I laughed a little sheepishly.

"Yeah, I did. I _really_ hated him. And he really hated me." I said, looking down at me hands while they played with a blade of grass.

"Then… _why?_" He asked again, and I looked him straight in the eye.

"I don't know, okay? All I know is that somehow, I fell in love with him. And he loves me, too. And do you know what? I'm not ashamed." I gave both of them a stern look, daring them to challenge me, but they didn't. They both looked right back into my eyes. They took a moment to look at each other, and then they looked back at me again, unwavering.

"Well then, we're okay with him if you are. But if he hurts you, we will personally make sure he gets a one-way ticket to hell." Fred said, and I smiled at them.

"Thank you, guys." It was quiet for a second, and then I added, "And also, he's _really _good in bed." I said with a sly smile on my face. They both laughed.

"Oh, now we know why you fell in love with him." George said.

"Yeah, it's because he has a big penis!" Fred said.

"Mystery solved!" Kayla said, and we all started laughing again.

"I really missed you guys." I said to the twins.

"We missed you, too." George said.

"Yeah, we've all been really worried about you. I mean, we were worried about the other three also, but at least we had an idea of what they were up to. We had no idea if you were even alive." Fred said.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for Draco and Narcissa, I probably would have bled to death in that barn." I said.

"Well, we'll have to thank them personally next time we see them." My face fell a bit. "What is it, Tal?"

"What if I never see him again?" I whispered, afraid. Fred put his hand on my knee.

"You will. I promise." He said. I smiled up at him, glad to have my favorite brother back.

"If you say 'because eventually, you'll both die and be in Heaven', I swear to God I'll kill you." I said, and Fred smiled.

"That's not what I meant. But you do have a point… ouch!" He said, because I had just punched him in the stomach.

"Bloody bastard." I said, and George fell over laughing, almost rolling down the hill. Kayla was laughing at George, and Fred was still clutching his stomach. I think I may have knocked the wind out of him. Oops. Pretty soon we were all lying in the grass, watching the clouds. My head was resting on Fred's arm, and I started to drift off. It was so much like the old days that it made my heart hurt. I hoped that soon, after all this shit had passed, that things could be like they used to.

Later on, I'd find out that they weren't.


	38. Chapter 38

**The Journey Back to Hogwarts**

We waited for what felt like weeks, but it was probably only a couple days. It only felt like so long because I needed help with everything. But I was getting better! I didn't need help walking around anymore, but I couldn't go too quickly. And someone always had to be with me when I went up or down stairs, because once I had gotten very dizzy and almost fell down. If I was with anyone else during those few days, it would've been extremely boring. But as I had always known, life with the Weasleys was anything but boring. Fred and George made everything exciting, and I had been aching for a good home-cooked meal from Molly for almost a year and a half.

"So, what exactly are we waiting for, anyway?" I asked no one in particular, when we were all sitting around the table, waiting for supper.

"Well, my dear, we're waiting for the signal on our Potter Watch radio station." Arthur answered me but I was still confused,

"Signal for what?" I said, looking around. I was the only one asking, but I could tell that my sister and parents were equally as curious.

"For the final showdown." Fred said, making his voice more dramatic. I laughed at him, as did everyone else, but we were all uneasy.

"How do we know where to go?" I asked.

"It will be at Hogwarts." Arthur said.

"But isn't that dangerous?"

"Oh, of course. But it's going to be dangerous no matter where it happens. Why not make it on our own turf?" He said. He had a point. I had another question.

"Why did you guys all come here? To Shell Cottage?" Molly was the one to answer this question.

"For a couple of reasons. First, this is the official safe house for the Order. And second, we all wanted to be together when we leave. I know it sounds grim, but this could very well be the last time we're together as a family. Even if we're missing a couple." She turned her head, trying to hide the tears that had formed there, and Arthur jumped up to comfort his wife.

"Well I'm glad we're all here together. And now, I have both of my families with me." I said, smiling. "And I think we'll get through this. I have a good feeling." I wasn't so sure, though. And judging from the look that Fred was giving me, he wasn't either. He got up and went over to his mother.

"Mum, how long do you think supper will be?" He asked her.

"Oh, probably about twenty minutes or so." He nodded, and turned to me.

"Want to go for a walk, Tal? Being a cripple and all, a little exercise would be good for you." He was making his words light, but I could tell he just wanted a chance to talk alone with me.

"Ha ha, very funny. And yes, I actually would like a walk." I got up and went over to him, and we linked arms. As he led me outside, I was met by a familiar rush of fresh air and salty ocean. I took in a huge breath, loving it. It made my head slightly fuzzy, but in a good way. Fred led me down to the beach, and we took off our shoes and walked through the water. It was nice. We hadn't been alone in a long time.

"I really missed you, Fred." I said. He patted my arm.

"I missed you, too. A lot." He said, and I rested my head on his arm. "What's going on, Tal?"

"I'm afraid." I said, in a quiet voice.

"Of what?"

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that something is about to go down. I've been getting these headaches…" I trailed off.

"Headaches? Like your psychic headaches?"

"Yeah. It's different than usual, though. Usually they're sharp, throbbing pains. But this is a dull ache, like it's… waiting. And I don't know what's going to happen. I never do. But this time, it scares me." He stopped to turn to me, and put his arms on mine and started rubbing them, because I was shivering. He looked like he was going to say something, but then stopped himself and laughed. "What?" I asked, laughing a little bit myself.

"I was just going to say that no matter what, I'd keep you safe. But, who am I kidding? You're the one who keeps me safe." He said, and I laughed at him.

"And don't you forget it, ginger." I said.

"Oh, that's a low blow." He said, but he still laughed. The conversation stayed light for a few minutes, but neither of us could keep our minds off of the important stuff for very long.

"I just wish that whatever is going to happen would just happen already! I can't take this waiting! I wish I could've gone with Harry." I said. Fred wrapped his arm around me.

"I know, Tal. We all feel the same way. You don't think we all don't hate being cooped up here, do you? And anyway, we've all had to make sacrifices…" He said, and I picked up the implication in his voice.

"Fred," I said warningly, "What do you mean by 'sacrifices'?" I asked. Fred's cheeks turned a little red.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to tell you…" He said, and I stopped and jumped in front of him so he couldn't keep walking.

"Fred Gideon Weasley, you tell me what's going on _right now_!" I said, slapping his shoulder, apparently too hard, as he winced and grabbed the spot.

"Well, George sort of… um… maybe… got his ear cursed off, "that last part was said so fast, it was almost one word, "a little." He finished. He then started cowering when he saw my reaction.

"A little?!" I yelled, and immediately started running up to the cottage. Well, sort of power-walking, really. I wasn't up for running just yet.

"Really, Talia, he's fine. His ears almost all grown back, you didn't even notice anything was wrong in the first place! Don't make a big deal out of this, Tal." Fred said, trying to keep up with me and reason with me at the same time. Only the former was working.

"Dear God, Fred, just shut up." I said, trying to go even faster. When I burst through the door, I must have startled everyone, because they all dropped what they were doing. My mum dropped the spoon she was stirring her tea with, Bill dropped the book he was reading, and Arthur dropped a little Muggle contraption he was attempting to disassemble. All heads turned toward me. I hurried over to George, and I think he might have guessed what was coming.

"Bloody hell, Fred, I told you not to tell her!" George whined, as I reached him and knelt down to his level.

"Sorry, man, it slipped." Fred said, coming to sit next to us.

"Oh, Georgie, what happened to you?" I said. I was inspecting his ear, and he was trying to swat me away.

"It was nothing, really. We were in the process of moving Harry to a safer place after he came of age, and we were ambushed."

"Yeah, Draco told me about that. He wasn't one of the Death Eaters that attacked you, but he learned how it went from some others. I can't believe it's _you_ that got hurt, George. I was joking about how funny you two would find it that someone got their ear blown off." I said, giving them a small smile. They gave me bigger smiles back.

"Oh, we did. Especially Fred." George said, looking at his brother.

"You should hear the first thing he said to me when he woke up. You're going to die." Fred said, which totally interested me.

"What was it?" I said, looking between them. It was Fred that answered me.

"Well, here I am, leaning over my brother's lifeless body, hoping that he'd wake up. I talked to him, coaxed him, and when he finally opened his eyes, I asked him how he was feeling. And all he said, was, 'Saint-like'." There was a long pause.

"Saint-like? What the hell does that mean?" I asked him, and he started to laugh. So, I turned my questioning eyes to George, who looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, you know… I was holey." He said, and I immediately put my head in my hand and shook it back and forth.

"Oh, George. Why?" I said, not able to contain my laughter. Pretty soon, both me and Fred were lying on the floor, laughing our asses off. As I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked around the room, I could see that everyone else was enjoying this moment, also. But pretty soon, we all calmed down, and my mind started to wander. All of a sudden, I started to get angry. Why were these stupid Death Eaters always targeting my family? Why? And what was with this sudden anger spike? I didn't understand it, but that didn't stop it. Both of the twins sensed the sudden change. They even understood it, as they had witnessed it for years, and always were the ones to calm me down. They immediately jumped to attention.

"Tal, you're eyes," George said.

"Maybe you should go outside." Fred said, and they grabbed my arms and dragged me outside before I could do any damage inside. The minute we stepped foot outside, they let me go, and I ran toward the edge of the trees. I took in a huge breath, and screamed. The scream split the trees in half, and made sand fly up in the air. I think I may have even killed a bird, but I'd push feeling bad back for later. The scream went on for what felt like forever, but I suspected it was only a couple minutes. When I finally cut it off, I found myself on my knees, gripping handfuls of sand and grass and whatever else was on the ground beneath me. I hoped there wasn't any poop. I looked to make sure, and relieved, I let the dirt fall to the ground once more. I was exhausted. I sagged back, expecting to fall to the ground. But two pairs of strong arms caught me and held me upright.

"Holy shit, Tal, that was amazing." Fred said.

"Since when can you do that?" George asked.

"I've been practicing." I said, quietly. It was quiet for a few minutes, and we were all just breathing, and watching the waves on the beach. After a while, Fred wiped a tear from my cheek, and I realized that I had been crying.

"You wanna talk?" Asked George, and I looked down.

"I'm just… angry. I'm so, so angry. Never for a second do I ever regret being friends with Harry Potter. But all this crap that's happened to me, to all of us, just plain sucks. And I can't do anything about it." I said. I was starting to feel a little embarrassed about my blowup. "I'm sorry, you guys. That was stupid of me."

"Don't apologize. Losing control is something that happens to everybody once in a while." Fred said.

"And anyway, those trees were pretty annoying. I'd been meaning to rip them to shreds for days now. Thanks Tal!" George said, mocking.

"And I'm positive that that was the bird that's been keeping me up all night! Way to go, girl!" Fred said, and I laughed. I could always count on my brothers. All of them. I stood up, and saw the sky begin to turn the dark pink color of the setting sun. I started walking back to the cottage, and I felt both Fred and George grab my hands. We walked in silence, enjoying the breeze. I had always loved coming here as a child. I hoped that someday, I could bring my own children here. We walked inside, only to find that everyone was gathered around a small, fuzzy-sounding radio.

"What the hell is everyone doing?" I asked.

"Shh!" Everyone said at once, so I stayed quiet, listening to what they were.

"… Has struck. I repeat, lightning has struck." The little radio said, and everyone immediately jumped up into action. Even Fred and George started moving with everyone, apparently in on whatever was going on.

"What's going on?" I said loudly, hoping someone would hear me. Someone did.

"That was the signal we've been waiting for! It's time to go!" Arthur said to me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking them enthusiastically. My face lit up. This was it! No one grabbed anything, but some of us changed into something more comfortable. I ran upstairs and made sure to wear an outfit I didn't care about getting messed up (the jeans were already pretty ripped up, anyway) and some pretty heavy duty combat boots. I didn't bother putting on any jewelry, but I did leave on the necklace that I always wore, the one Draco gave me. I pulled my hair up into a quick ponytail, and grabbed my lucky bracelet just in case. Okay, so maybe I had no reason to think it was lucky, but I grabbed it anyway.

When I made it downstairs just minutes later, we all headed outside and started hurrying across the beach.

"Why are we walking? Can't we apparate?" I asked.

"We can't apparate until we're off the property." Bill said.

"Oh. Gotcha." I said, hurrying a little faster. I knew this wasn't something to be excited about, but I couldn't help it. I was excited to finally be able to be a part of all this. I looked over at Fred and George and saw that they were having similar feelings, and we all fist-bumped. When we finally made it to the edge of the property, we all grabbed hands and apparated off the beach. When we landed, me gripping Fred's hand a little more fiercely than before, I found that we were in Hogsmeade. Not only that, but we were standing in front of the Hog's Head, a pub that no one went to. Bill knocked on the door, quickly and quietly, and a man with fierce blue eyes and an enormous grey beard opened it and ushered us all in. Looking at him gave me quite a shock, for he was the spitting image of Albus Dumbledore. I turned to Fred.

"Fred, is that…?" I started, but I didn't know how to phrase the question delicately. Thankfully, Fred knew what I meant. He shook his head.

"It's not. It's his brother, Aberforth."

"I didn't know he had a brother." I said carefully, not wanting him to overhear us talking about him.

"Neither did anyone else."

"This is so crazy." I said, my head reeling. Fred smiled.

"Just wait. It gets even crazier." I gave him a questioning look, but stayed quiet, because something was happening in the other room. We walked in to see everyone gathered around a portrait of a little girl, and it was opening. Everyone climbed in and started walking, but I hesitated. Fred, from behind me, gently urged me on. "Don't worry, it will be okay. If anything happens, I'll save your ass." I scoffed.

"Oh, please. I think we both know that if anything happens, it will be _me_ that saves _your_ ass." I said, and climbed through with him.

"I have to side with Talia on this one, Freddie." George said from ahead, and I laughed. When I heard Aberforth speak behind us, I jumped at how much his voice sounded like Dumbledore's.

"Just follow this tunnel through to the end, it will take you straight there." And with that, he closed the painting.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." Fred and George said together, and I frowned.

"You know how much I hate surprises." I said.

"We know." They said, again at the same time. I sighed.

"Oh, how I missed you two." I said, sarcastically. They laughed. We walked for a while, sometimes speaking to each other, but for the most part it was a very quiet trip. Except for once, when I stepped on something that squealed and then ran away, which made me squeal in return and jump back into Fred.

"Aw, is little Talia afraid of a little mouse?" Fred said.

"Don't worry, Tal, I'm sure it's more scared of you than you are of it." George said.

"Shut up, you dumb shits." I said, making them snigger. As we made our way closer to wherever we were going, I started to get anxious. And, yes, I did start to get a headache, but at least I knew why this time. Well, at least, I had an idea. I didn't know exactly what was about to go down, I just knew that all this shit that's been happening was about to hit the fan. Well, at least I could finally walk on my own. I had gotten so frustrated with having to be pushed and carried around like a little baby. Ever since my family was torn apart ten years ago, I had taken care of myself. And that would never change.

I could tell we were getting near, because the passage way became smaller, and everyone became a little tenser. I pulled out my wand, ready for anything, but no one else did. When we came to the end of the passage way, I realized that it wasn't necessary. The door flung open, everyone jumped out, and we found ourselves in the Room of Requirement. It was different than when Draco and I snuck away here, though, as there were hammocks everywhere. It seemed that people had been sleeping here instead of their dormitories. I looked around and saw familiar faces, like Cho Chang, Lavender Brown, Cormac McLaggen (ugh), Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and Seamus Finnigan.

"Seamus!" I said, and he turned to me, smiling.

"Talia! We've really missed you around here. Ron and Hermione filled us in about what happened to you." He said, coming over to me, and we hugged. When he pulled away, I looked at his face, and saw that it was pretty badly beaten up. I poked at his face, making him laugh.

"Oh, Seamus. This looks pretty bad. I'm a little jealous that I wasn't the one to do it to you. This time."

"Trust me, I'd rather take a beating from you any day than where I got this." He said, gesturing to his face. I knew that he meant the Carrows, and I got a little angry. They were abusing students, and it wasn't right.

"Talia!" A few people said at once, and I turned around to find Ron, Hermione, and Neville rushing towards me.

"Whoa, you guys, you just saw me a couple days ago." I told them.

"But not me, though." Neville said.

"True." I said, and hugged him. But then I broke down and hugged the other two, also. I looked around for a specific person, and grinned when I saw Ginny standing a little distance away.

"Talia?" She asked, as if unsure, and we ran to each other. It would have been a perfect one of those slow motion, dramatic running towards each other sequence, if we weren't so damn clumsy and eager. It was more like we were hurrying for the last piece of food on the planet. We hugged, and I was so happy to have my sister back. This reminded me of my actual sister, so I pulled away.

"Ginny, I have to show you something. You are _not _going to believe this." I said. She looked confused, but her face lit up when I stepped aside and revealed Kayla to her.

"Hey, Ginny." Kay said, and then _they _both ran to each other dramatically. There was a lot of love in this place right now.

"I thought you were dead!" Ginny said.

"Join the club." Kay said, and they hugged again. Those two had been pretty close before Kay was "killed", so it was nice to see them together again. I looked around for another one of my friends, but was disappointed when Harry was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Harry?" I asked Ron and Hermione.

"Down making his big entrance." Ron said.

"Speaking of that, we should all really be going. Where are Remus and Tonks and Kingsley?" Hermione said, right when they walked through the portrait hole.

"Don't worry, we're here. Sorry we're late." Remus said. I went over to hug them all, and Remus smiled at me. But then his eyes found Kayla. He was about to ask about it, but then he smelled her, and gave a nod of understanding. Werewolves could smell each other. Kay smiled a little sheepishly.

"I hear you and me have a lot in common." She said, and we all laughed.

"Okay, we have to go now!" Hermione said, urgently trying to hurry us all out of the room.

"Calm down, Hermione. It's not like it's the end of the world or anything." Ron said.

"That's debatable, Ronald." I said, and a few people laughed. We left the Room of Requirement, exposing ourselves to the unknown, and I sent a quick prayer to no one that we'd make it out of this alive. _All _of us.

**A.N. I'm sorry it's taking so long to finish this story. I know exactly how I want to end it, but it's hard to get down, you know? So, just stay patient and I'll do my best. And thank you so much for your amazing reviews! They make me happy to read! Thank you for loving my story!**


	39. Chapter 39

**The Battle of Hogwarts Begins**

We snuck our way down the moving staircase, and I smiled the whole way down. I knew this was no time to be happy, but being back at school was an amazing feeling. I heard Molly and Arthur a few days ago, discussing whether or not they would let us repeat our seventh year or not. I hoped so, because I really wanted to go back. Maybe we could actually have a normal, uneventful year at school, not having to worry about somebody dying or having to save Harry's ass. I had my wand out and ready, and this time I wasn't alone. Everybody was ready. Even McLaggen was being serious. I made my way over to him and nudged him with my elbow.

"I have to say, McLaggen, I'm impressed. I've been back at school for a whole twenty minutes, and you haven't even hit on me once." I said with a smile, and I saw him crack a small one, too.

"Tell you what: If we both make it out of this alive, I'll hit on you again. Deal?" He said, being likeable for the first time in his life.

"Deal. And it's _when _we both get out of this alive. Not _if._" He laughed. "But just a fair warning, I do actually have a boyfriend." He looked at me funny.

"Since when?"

"Since last year."

"Who is it?"

"I'd rather not get into it now." I said, avoiding answering him. For some reason, people always seemed to react badly when I told them I was dating Draco Malfoy. McLaggen shrugged, and turned back to the mission at hand. We were nearing the Great Hall, where the rest of the students and teachers and Harry were all gathered. Blaise was in there. I had a lot of friends in there. And although all the people I loved most were either with me here, or back at Malfoy Manor, it still hurt me to think of what the people in there had gone through this past year. They didn't deserve it. As we burst through the huge doors to the Great Hall, some part of me laughed on the inside at how ridiculously majestic we looked, all dramatic and crap. I was glad Fred and George were here with me, because I could guarantee that they were having the same thought. Harry was talking to Snape.

"… You still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster. And I'm afraid it's quite extensive." We all stood there, backing Harry up, as he stood there, telling off Snape. "How dare you stand where he stood?" And then he started yelling at him. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who _trusted _you, and killed him! Tell them."

As he finished, Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at Harry. Everyone in my group pulled out theirs as well, ready to defend him, but Professor McGonagall beat them to it. I always liked that woman. She might have been old, but she was just as tough as any of us. Just as much of a fighter. She immediately started throwing spells and hexes at Snape, who just stood there, taking them without a word. Why wasn't he fighting back? He was protecting himself, alright, but he wasn't retaliating. That was strange. She backed him up all the way to the front of the hall, and as he blocked a particularly bad spell, it bounced off and hit Amycus and Alecto Carrow, knocking them unconscious. Good riddance. Suddenly, Snape vanished into a cloud of black mist, and flew out the window.

"Coward!" McGonagall yelled at him. As all the students started to cheer, she turned and put all the lamps back on with a wave of her wand. But soon, everyone quieted down, as the air suddenly got cold, and despite the lights, the room got a little dim. It was almost like the feeling people get when a dementor is around, but it was different somehow. I found Fred and George's hands, and grabbed them, for some reason afraid. And then, we heard a chilling voice coming from nowhere in particular.

"_Harry_…" It said, and Harry fell to the floor.

"Potter?" McGonagall said, leaning down to make sure he was okay. The room still growing darker, everyone looked around, trying to find the source of this weirdness. And then a girl started screaming at the top of her lungs, and I jumped a little. I couldn't tell who she was, she was too far away. But then another girl started screaming, and I could see that it was one of the Patil sisters. And then we heard the voice again, a voice that I now recognized.

"_I know that many of you will want to fight. Some of you may even think that to fight is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter. Do this, and none of you shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched._" Somehow, I highly doubted that was true. "_Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have one hour."_ The lights went back up, and he was finished. There was no way in _hell _that I was going to let anyone give up Harry. Everyone backed up, so he was left standing alone in the middle of the room. It was still silent, until a shrill little annoying voice started yelling.

"What are you waiting for? Someone grab him!" It was Pansy Parkinson, big surprise. She was standing next to Blaise, and I could see that he was scared. Ginny walked in front of Harry, blocking him from anyone who even tried to lay a finger on him, and we all followed. And of course, me being… well, me, had to say something.

"Shut your goddamn little pug-faced mouth, Parkinson. No one is going to be "grabbing" anyone. Except for me, grabbing your hair, to smash your ugly little face into the w—" someone covered my mouth with their hand before I could finish that particularly violent sentiment. Fred and George were both laughing their asses off, as was Blaise. Pretty soon, we heard filch running into the room, shouting.

"Students out of bed! Students in the corridor!"

"They are supposed to be out of bed, you blithering idiot."

"Oh. Sorry, Mum."

"As it happens, Mr. Filch, your arrival is most opportune. If you would, I would like you, please, to lead Miss Parkinson and the rest of Slytherin House from the hall."

"Exactly where is it I'll be leading them to, Mum?"

"The dungeons would do." I piped up.

"Wait!" I shouted, and everyone, filch and McGonagall included, turned to look at me.

"What is it, Miss Jackson?"

"Don't take Blaise Zabini. He's with me." I said, and Blaise looked grateful. From behind me, I heard Kayla breathe a sigh of relief.

"Very well." McGonagall said, and Blaise made his way over to us. I turned to my friends, who looked a little wary of this decision.

"Anyone who has a problem with Blaise will have to take it up with me." I said, and I suspected my eyes had a little green glow to them. Good. For once, it actually happened when I wanted it to. Fred and George shrugged, and no one else looked like they had anything else to say. "That's what I thought." I said. I turned back around, and Kayla almost knocked me over on her way to Blaise. They hugged like they hadn't seen each other in years, and I smiled. When they were finished, it was my turn. I hugged my friend tightly.

"Nice to see you again, Zabini." I said. He smiled.

"You too, Jackson. Thanks for that, by the way. I can't imagine being stuck down there with those losers while all the fun is happening up here." He said, shrugging his robe off and letting it drop to the floor. Everyone was cheering again, because Filch was leading the Slytherins out of the hall. We walked over to Fred and George.

"Don't worry, Blaise, these two already know everything." I told Blaise. He looked a little embarrassed.

"Everything?" He asked. I nodded.

"Everything." I said, and looked at Fred and George. They were nodding, as if in on some hilariously juicy secret. "I went through the whole Malfoy thing with them." Blaise looked a little relaxed when he realized that my brothers weren't going to kill him just yet.

"Speaking of, where _is_ Malfoy?" He asked, and my face fell a little.

"With his family." I said. Blaise patted my shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Hey, you know that if he could be here with you, he would be." He said, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I know. Hell, the way things are going, he most likely will show up."

"Yeah, but _with _the rest of the Death Eaters." The conversation was cut short, because Harry walked over to McGonagall, and we all wanted to hear what they said to each other, so we followed.

"I presume you have a reason for returning, Potter. What is it you need?" She asked.

"Time, Professor. As much as you can get me." He said. She nodded.

"Do what you have to do. I'll secure the castle." He started to walk away, but she added, "Potter… It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, professor." He turned to Neville. "Hold the fort, Neville." And he left, followed by me, Blaise, Kayla, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Everyone else, like the Weasleys and my parents, stayed with McGonagall to help her. As we left the Great Hall, Fred and George stopped me.

"Tal, we're gonna stay and help them. They need us." Fred said, and something inside me broke. I didn't want them to go. But I nodded anyway, because I knew they were right. I hugged them both really hard, not wanting to let go.

"Be safe. If one of you gets yourself killed, I swear to God I will perform some dark magic spell to bring you back to like so I can kill you myself." I said, and they laughed.

"Yeah, 'cause that's _totally _possible." George said. We parted ways, and I followed the rest of my friends again. Harry was hurrying, and the rest of us were trying to keep up, but then Ron started talking to him.

"Harry! Hermione and I have been thinking. It doesn't matter if we find a Horcrux—"

"What do you mean?" Harry said quickly.

"—Unless we can destroy it." Hermione finished Ron's thought. And then Ron piped up again.

"So, we were thinking—"

"Well, Ron was thinking. It was Ron's idea, it's completely brilliant—"

"You destroyed Tom Riddle's diary with a basilisk fang, right? Well, me and Hermione know where we might find one." Were they crazy? Were they actually going to go down into the Chamber of Secrets? I'd been down there, and it was disgusting. But harry nodded, going along with it.

"Okay… okay, but take this. That way you can find me when you get back." He said, handing them the Marauder's map.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"Ravenclaw common room. Gotta start somewhere!" He said, hurrying away, leaving us all behind. I turned to Ron and Hermione.

"I think we're going to go see if Neville needs any help. Come find us before you meet up with Harry, alright? He needs all the help he can get. I have a feeling he has no idea what he's doing." I said. Ron nodded.

"When does he ever?" He said, and then he and Hermione hurried away, dodging all the running, frightened people. I ran back down the stairs, followed by Blaise and Kayla, gripping each other's hands. I was happy they had each other at a time like this, and it made me miss Draco even more. We saw Neville and Seamus following McGonagall outside, so we hurried over to them. We didn't hear the first part of the conversation, so what we heard was a little surprising.

"Let me get this straight, Professor. You're giving us permission to do this?" Neville said, looking excited.

"That is correct, Longbottom." She said.

"To blow it up? Boom?"

"Boom!" Wait, what? What were they blowing up? Neville looked even happier.

"Wicked! But, how on earth are we gonna do that?" He asked.

"Why don't you confer with Mr. Finnigan? As I recall, he has a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics."

"I can bring it down." Seamus said, also grinning.

"That's the spirit. Now away you go." They ran away, followed by Cho, and we followed them. I hurried to catch up with Neville to ask him exactly what we were about to do.

"Um, Neville? Can you explain…" I didn't know how to phrase the question exactly, but he knew.

"We're blowing up the bridge!" He said, and Seamus laughed. We were heading for the bridge that went over the water, which lead to Hagrid's hut and the Quidditch pitch.

"What?" I said, completely taken off guard. That was _so _not what I was expecting. "How are we going to do that?" I asked. Without a word, Seamus waved his wand and a whole mess of explosives appeared in his arms. His face was like a child on Christmas morning. "Seamus? Why the hell do you just happen to have all of this?" I asked, and Neville answered.

"The DA has been messing with the Carrows this year. We've been pulling pranks and stuff on them, which just seemed to make them even angrier and punish us more severely."

"It was awesome." I heard Blaise say.

"Um… duh!" I shouted at him, and he laughed. And when we reached the bridge, we got to work. Seamus handed out his explosives to everyone, telling them what to do and where to put them. We started climbing down the sides, putting them at places where wood intersected. This was so awesome. I was glad I wore good boots for this kind of thing. I looked over at where Blaise was helping Kayla set up a particularly big one, and smiled,

"Why, Blaise, it's so nice of you to offer to help _every single _one of us with our explosives. But no thank you, I'm fine." I said, teasing him. He gave me his middle finger. I gave it right back. I was about to make a very profane remark, but then we heard Neville shouting at us from above.

"Talia! Come up here!" He said, so the three of us finished what we were on and hurried up to the top.

"What is it Neville?" I asked.

"Hermione sent her patronus, telling you to meet them at the Room of Requirement ASAP." I nodded, and we were off. I was practically sprinting, wanting to get there as fast as possible. I was vaguely aware of what was going on around me; I just knew that I had to find my friends as fast as possible. I needed to help them. When Blaise shouted my name, I stopped.

"What is it?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"I'll meet you there, okay? Just go on ahead."

"But Blaise…" Kayla started, but he cut her off.

"Just go with Talia. I'll see you soon, I promise." He said, and kissed her, and then he left. He ran down a corridor as fast as he could, and I wondered what was so important.

"Come on, let's go." I said, grabbing Kayla's hand, and dragging her behind me. When we reached the floor that the Room of Requirement was on, we ran into Ron and Hermione, looking all wet.

"Why are you guys wet?" I asked them, and they just looked at each other and smiled.

"We'll tell you later. Where's Blaise?" Hermione asked, looking around for him.

"He ran off somewhere, and said he'd meet us there. Come on, we have to go find Harry." I said, and we took off once again. When we finally made it to the Room of Requirement, there wasn't anyone waiting for us. Not Harry, not Blaise.

"Come on, he's already inside." Ron said, and we entered the room to find a vast, cluttered room, filled with trash, and treasures, and just about anything you could think of. It looked nothing like when I had been in here last. It was the perfect place to hide something.

"There's a Horcrux in here?" I asked.

"Apparently." Hermione said, just as awe-struck as I was.

"Good luck finding it." Ron said. We searched for several minutes for Harry. And when we did find him, he had the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw in his hands. You know, being able to hear the Horcruxes came in really handy, even if it was a little creepy. Just as we reached him, we heard a voice from farther down the pathway.

"Well, well." Draco said, and I could've cried with relief, if we weren't to busy fighting to save the world and everything. There he was, with Blaise, and Goyle, their wands raised as if going to attack us. But I knew they wouldn't. It was all just a joke. I ran to them, and threw my arms around Draco, squeezing him with all my might. He squeezed back.

"I thought I'd never see you again." I said quietly to him, and he pulled back to smile at me.

"Looks like you're stuck with me." He said. And then, in an imitation of his old, Malfoy voice, he said, "So what brings you here, Jackson?" and he crossed his arms. I smiled, and did the same.

"I could ask you the same." I said. Blaise raised his hand, as if taking all the credit.

"I brought him here. It was all me." He said, and I laughed.

"Yeah, thanks for that. But why'd you guys bring him?" I said, gesturing towards a very angry, confused-looking Goyle. Draco frowned.

"He followed us."

"Hmm." I said, and we walked back to where the others were. Well, except for Goyle. He just stood there, with that stupid expression of his, as if he still didn't understand what was going on.

"Want your wand back?" Harry said, still not sure where the two of them stood. Draco shrugged.

"Keep it for now."

"Thanks for not telling Bellatrix about me." He said awkwardly, as if it was hard to thank Draco Malfoy.

"No problem. I would've done anything to get Talia out of there." He said, wrapping his arm around my waist. Just then, Goyle walked over to us, wand raised, ready to fire.

"What the hell is going on? Malfoy, quit being a prat and kill them already!" He said. Draco raised his wand at him.

"No, Goyle. Get out of here and go back to the dungeons." He said.

"No!" He said, raising his wand even more.

"Easy…" Draco said, warning him. Hermione raised her wand, and Goyle suddenly turned his on her.

"Expelliarmus!" She shouted, and he dodged it.

"Avada Kedavra!" Goyle shouted at her in return, but it missed.

"Stupefy!" I yelled at him, but that one also missed. Man, none of us were very good shots at the moment. One of the spells rebounded and hit the Diadem, throwing it to the top of a very large pile of junk. Harry watched it, while Ron ran after a retreating Goyle, yelling at him.

"That's my girlfriend, you numpties!" He said, and I looked at Hermione in surprise, seeing the small smile that had appeared on her face.

"Girlfriend?" I asked. She blushed.

"Shut up." She said, and we started to climb after the Horcrux. Harry was ahead of us, desperate to get at it. Draco, Blaise, and Kayla stayed at the bottom, wands raised, ready to defend us from anything. I could see the Horcrux where it was jammed next to an ugly red chair. I knew that Harry and Hermione were almost there, so I jumped back down so stand with the others.

"That outfit's pretty bad ass, by the way." Draco said, quickly glancing at me. I smiled, raising my wand with them.

"And you're looking sexy in your black suit, as usual." I said, and he smiled this time.

"Got it!" Harry said, and he and Hermione jumped down just in time to hear Ron's freakishly girlish scream. Fred and George would definitely hear about this later on. We looked down the way that Ron had gone, to see an orange glow cover everything. And then Ron came running into view, his face terrified.

"Goyle's set the bloody place on fire!" He said, grabbing Hermione's hand, and running past us for dear life. We followed him. I looked back to see that we were being followed by a huge, fire-snake, and started to run a little faster, pulled Draco with me. Kayla and Blaise were ahead of us, and Harry was behind us. When we realized that we'd run faster if we weren't holding hands, me and Draco let go, seeing Kayla and Blaise do the same. Harry caught up to us, almost passing me. He flicked his wand at a stack of stuff, making it fall, hoping it would block the fire. It didn't. It came through bigger, this time in the shape of a dragon. There were a lot of turns where we were heading, and we kept on getting separated. It was down to me and Harry and Draco, and the rest were somewhere else. I made a sharp turn, and tripped, and looked back to see that Draco had been cut off.

"Draco!" I screamed, afraid he had got caught in the fire.

"Come on!" Harry said, helping me to my feet, and pulling me when I didn't move right away. We turned another corner and met up with Ron, Hermione, and Kayla.

"Where's Blaise?" I asked her as we ran.

"Got separated!" She said, just as worried as I was. Next thing I knew, we were trapped in a corner, the fire advancing toward us. It looked like there was no way out. But then Harry threw up a barrier, knocking Ron back, and he fell right into a pile of broomsticks. We immediately started getting on them, but Kayla looked scarred.

"Come on, Kayla!"

"I never learned how to fly!" She shouted, so I pulled her on the back of mine. We flew up into the air, above the fire, and toward the exit. I looked back to see Draco, Blaise, and Goyle climbing to the top of a mountain of stuff. When Goyle fell into the fire, I screamed.

"You guys! We have to turn around! There's going to die!" I yelled, frantic. Harry looked back at them, then at me, and nodded.

"We can't leave them!" He shouted at Ron, who didn't look happy about it, but agreed anyway.

"If we die for them, I'm gonna kill you both!" He shouted as us, but I didn't care. They swooped down, trying to grab them, but missed the first time. But the second time around, when they dived, Harry caught Draco, and Ron caught Blaise. Relieved out of my mind, we started to make our ways out again. I couldn't stop looking over at Draco, making sure he was alright. We finally fell out of the room, and I immediately ran over to him and threw my arms around him once again. Kayla and Blaise did the same.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, and threw him something. He grabbed it, and stabbed the Diadem, straight through the blue crystal on top, and Ron kicked it back into the room. As it was consumed by the wall of fire, the fire turned into giant flaming heads of Voldemort, coming right toward us. The doors closed just in time, and I felt a wave of heat slam into my face. I turned around, and saw that Harry was having one of those fits he got when he was seeing into Voldemort's thoughts. We gathered around him, waiting for him to come back to himself.

"It's the snake. She's the last one. It's the last Horcrux." He said finally, and we all looked at each other with worry. How the hell were we going to kill that thing? We didn't even know where they were! Ron seemed to have the same thought, and he knelt down to Harry.

"Look inside him, harry. Find out where he is. If we find him, we can find the snake. Then we can end this." He said, and Harry looked frightened. I can't imagine it's very pleasant, being inside that monster's mind. Hermione knelt down next to Ron, and we all followed, giving him encouraging looks. He closed his eyes, and went away for a few minutes. He was panting. It looked painful, and I wished I could help him somehow. Make him stop. But I knew, as well as everyone else, that he needed to do this. I was happy when he finally opened his eyes.

"I know where he is." He said, and we jumped up and followed him. It was a nightmare, everywhere. There Death Eaters battling good guys, and statues, and monsters everywhere. Trolls, giant spiders, and much more. I flung curses at as many Death Eaters as I could, and hoped that I was helping someone. When we made it to the bottom of the staircase, where the battle seemed the worst, I felt myself knocked to the ground. When I looked up to see who had pushed me, I found that it had been Draco, blocking me from a spell that had almost got me. He was dueling the Death Eater that had cast it, and I jumped up, trying to help. But Draco had this one under control, so I turned to find someone else.

"Talia!" Harry yelled, and I saw that they were waiting for me.

"Go on without me! I'm not leaving him!" I shouted, and they left. I looked around and saw Kayla and Blaise both dueling the same Death Eater, and went over to help them. But then something caught my eye. Fred was cornered, getting his ass kicked by someone. I ran over to him, just as the Death Eater was bringing down a wall on top of my brother.

"NO!" I screamed, and knocked the death Eater unconscious, and threw a shield over Fred just as the bricks came tumbling down. It pulled me down with it, trying to keep the shield up long enough to make sure Fred had made it. When it was done falling, and I saw that my shield had protected him, I let it down, dropping my arm. That was exhausting. But, I jumped up anyway, and ran over to him.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?" I asked, frantically checking him to make sure. He grabbed my hands and shushed me.

"I'm fine! Thanks to you." He said smiling. I gave him a smug smile.

"_Told you _I'd be saving your ass." I said, and he laughed. I turned around to find Draco again, but he had disappeared.

"Where'd Draco go? Did you see where he went?" I asked, afraid someone had killed him. But there wasn't a body anywhere, he was just… not here.

"Nope. I didn't know he was here." Fred said. "Come on, he can take care of himself. Let's go do some fighting!" He said, eager. I cracked a smile, and followed him outside. We instantly got blocked by these ginormous spiders, and had no choice but to take them down.

"I just wish that I could keep one of these to torment Ron with, you know?" He yelled at me, between spells.

"You're a horrible brother!" I said, killing my spider, and moving over to help him with his. When we finished it off, we high-fived, and moved on to another duel. But then I saw something that shocked me down to my core.

"No!" I screamed, seeing Fenrir Greyback, leaning over the lifeless body of Lavender Brown, his face buried in her throat. "Stop!" I screamed at him, and he looked up, angry that someone was interrupting him. But when he saw that it was me, he smiled, blood smearing his face.

"Why, if it isn't my little songbird. I see your neck is healing up nicely..." He said, and I felt Fred grab my arm.

"Don't do it, Tal. Let someone else." But I shrugged him off, walked toward Greyback, and felt my eyes glow green. I looked down at my hands, and they were doing the same thing they did at the party at Malfoy Manor, when I had almost killed all those people. I felt the same power in my head, but this time, I knew what I was doing. And I knew who I wanted to do it to. I took in a huge, single breath, and let out a scream that was ten times worse than the one at Shell Cottage. I raised my hands and shoved them at him, making him fly up into the air and into the valley below the front bridge. I'd be surprised if he survived that fall.

I had killed Fenrir Greyback.

And it felt good.

I calmed myself down again before turning to Fred, and he was smiling when I did.

"That was so epic." I laughed.

"Well, it's pretty dangerous, so you probably won't see me do it again for a very long time." We were hugging when the cold, icy voice of Voldemort came to us just like before.

"_You have fought valiantly… but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."_ After he finished, all his Death Eaters made their way out into the forest. I inched closer to Fred, in case any of them tried anything, but they were silent. Once they were all gone, people started to bring bodies into the Great Hall. Fred turned to me, a grim expression on his face.

"Come on, let's go see who we've lost."

**A.N. Fun fact: I've met Tom Felton! It was awesome. It was at Comic-Con in Chicago last August. He was really nice.**


	40. Chapter 40, corrected (lol, oops)

**The Boy Who Lived**

"Quit worrying, Tal! He'll be here!" Fred said, a little while later, when we were sitting in the Great Hall with the rest of the family. Thankfully, none of them had gotten killed. And I had hugged every single one of them for at least five minutes each. Even Percy, who had finally chosen a side.

"How do you know he's not lying somewhere in some random corridor, dead?" I said. I hadn't seen Draco in half an hour.

"Bloody hell, Talia, that was just plain depressing." George said, helping Fred trying to take my mind off of it. It wasn't working. I looked over at Ron and Hermione, who were sitting extremely close to each other, not saying anything, just sitting. They looked so good together, and I was _still _annoyed that it had taken them seven years to figure that out. I hated to interrupt them, but I had to ask them something.

"Hey, you guys, where'd Harry?" I asked. He hadn't come back with them.

"Well, he was heading up to the Headmaster's office, but we haven't seen him since." They had filled me in on everything about Snape. Hearing about his death gave me mixed emotions. I knew he had killed Dumbledore and all, but it was still sad. I had always had this feeling that there was more to him than we knew. And now, we would never know. When I heard the doors creak open, my thoughts were interrupted. I looked over to see Tonks and Lupin, with a very bloody, very hurt looking Draco Malfoy between them. They were both carrying him, and I ran over to them.

"Oh my God! Draco! What happened?" I said when I reached him, but Arthur Weasley talked before they could answer me.

"Get away from him, Talia. He's a Death Eater. You should've left him." He said that last part to Lupin, who was about to say something, but I got up and turned to Arthur. His wand was raised, as if waiting for Draco to jump up and attack everybody. I had no intensions of hurting Arthur, but I had to say something.

"Don't even think about laying a hand on him, Arthur. He's the only reason I'm still alive." I said, taking him by surprise. I turned back around and knelt in front of Draco, tipping his face up so I could see it. He was awake, but it looked like that was a challenge for him.

"Draco? Can you hear me?" I asked him, and he gave me a small smile.

"Loud and clear, love."

"Love?" Arthur said angrily, but Molly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sush, Arthur. Look at them." She said, and he did just that. He looked down to see me and Draco, our faces inches away from each other, and my hands on either side of his face. There were tears rolling down both our faces, as we realized that we had almost lost each other. Lupin and Tonks lowered him down, so I was cradling his head in my lap. Lupin walked over to Arthur.

"Don't judge the boy too quickly, Arthur. He saved both the lives of me and my wife. He's the reason I'm here talking to you right now, and thanks to him our child will not have to grow up without parents." This surprised Arthur, and he looked back down to me. I turned my face to his, and when he looked into my eyes, he finally lowered his wand. He gave me a short nod, and a weight was lifted off my shoulders. He may not have been my real father, but he raised me as if I was his own child. Telling him about me and Draco had been one of my biggest fears, considering his history with the Malfoys.

Madame Pomfrey hurried over to us, checked out Draco, and gave him a little bit of a potion. His eyes instantly cleared, and he started to sit up.

"Just sit still, will you? You're not as good as new just yet." Madame Pomfrey nagged him, and I laughed. He smiled, and settled back down in my lap. She started to wipe the blood and dirt off his face, but I took the cloth from her to do it myself. She went away to tend to others, and the people around us dispersed to do other things, and we were alone.

"So, where did you go? I ditched my friends for you, dude." I said, but I wasn't really upset.

"I didn't try to leave. I was just so caught up in keeping the Death Eaters away from you, that I started to wander off a little… and then I found Lupin and Tonks having some trouble. So I helped them." He said.

"He was very brave." Tonks said from a few feet away, smiling at him.

"Thank you." Lupin said to him, and Draco looked a little sheepish. How cute.

"Tal was pretty brave, too!" George said from somewhere else, clearly eavesdropping.

"Yeah, tell them about that epic shit you did to Greyback!" Fred shouted, also eavesdropping. This made everyone else drop what they were doing and listen, and then it was my turn to be sheepish.

"Epic shit?" Draco asked, curious. I sighed.

"Yeah… I sort of… killed Fenrir Greyback." I said, and everyone started talking about how awesome it was. Draco looked half impressed, and half happy that the guy was finally gone.

"It was awesome! She didn't even have to use her wand! Her eyes were glowing green, and her hands had this green glow too, and she just sort of… pushed him back off the bridge! It was like she was a Jedi, using the Force!" Fred said, excited. No one but us knew that reference he made, and they all gave him confused looks. Well, except for Draco. He got it. "Come on. No one here has seen Star Wars?" He asked, and they still looked just as confused as before, if not more. "Whatever. You guys suck." He said, and George gave him a pat on the back.

"Those that matter got it, brother." I went back to cleaning up Draco. But after a few minutes, he stopped me, and grabbed my hand.

"Help me sit up." He said, so I did. When he was comfortably up, next to me, he leaned in and gave me what was possibly the most tender kiss we'd ever had. It wasn't all hot and heavy like it usually was, but it was just as good. These were the moments I loved him the most. He was sweet, and kind, and he loved me. When we broke the kiss, we rested our foreheads against each other for a second before we pulled away. I sensed someone watching us, and turned to see Hermione smiling at me. I was about to say something when I heard someone's footsteps outside the Great Hall. I gestured for Hermione and Ron to follow, and helped Draco up so he could come with.

"This is a switch from before, eh? You helping me get around." He said.

"Oh please. It's just for a few minutes, until you find your strength." I said, making fun of him. We made our way out into the entry way to find a very grim looking Harry, walking down the steps. We ran over to him, making him stop.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"We thought you went to the forest." Ron said.

"I'm going there now." Harry said, and my jaw dropped. How could he?

"Are you mad? No!" Ron said, as Harry walked past us. We followed, intent on stopping him from making this huge mistake.

"You can't give yourself up to him!" I cried. Harry stopped.

"What is it, Harry? What is it you know?" Hermione said, but there was something about the way she said it. It was almost like she already knew. Harry turned around.

"There's a reason I can hear them… the Horcruxes. I think I've known for a while. And I think you have, too." He said to her, and she started to cry.

"I'll go with you." She said.

"No, kill the snake. Kill the snake, and then it's just him." He said. Hermione ran to him and threw her arms around him, and I wanted to do the same. I saw him look at Ron, and when I did the same, I saw tears running down Ron's cheeks. I ran over and hugged Harry too, and without a word he left. He didn't run, or hurry, he just calmly walked to his death. He wasn't afraid. I had always admired Harry, because he was so good at overcoming his fear and doing what he needed to do. But this time, he wasn't afraid. Just… resolved.

"Come on. Let's go back." This time it was Draco's turn to lead me into the Great Hall, and I went without a word. I didn't even check to see if the other two had followed. I sat there, and mourned my best friend. I looked around at the others in the room, some mourning their lost loved ones, some still getting cleaned and fixed up, and some who were completely oblivious to this feeling. And all of them, every single one of them, had no idea that Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was now walking to his death so that they could live. I leaned my head on Draco's shoulder, and he put his arm around me. And we sat like that for a while, until I felt a rush of wind as Lupin ran past us. I got up to follow him, and Draco followed me. We followed him all the way to the doors, where we found Sirius Black, dragging himself along the floor.

"Sirius!" I exclaimed, as Lupin lifted him up and helped him over to where Madame Pomfrey was still helping people recover.

"Hey there, Talia."

"What the hell happened? I didn't even know you were here!"

"Are you kidding? You think I would actually miss a battle like this? And, I'm perfectly fine, just look a little curse to the knee. Nothing to worry about. I expect Poppy here can heal me up in no time." He said, giving a flirtatious smile to Madame Pomfrey, making her blush and come over to him.

"Some things never change, old friend." Lupin said, smiling. Sirius gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, and then turned back to me.

"By the way, Tal, I actually happened to see you take out Greyback. Your parents would be proud, that was some seriously epic shit right there."

"Yeah, it was!" Fred and George screamed together. Sirius laughed.

"About that…" I said.

"What?" Sirius said. I gestured to where my parents were standing, smiling at him. When he caught their eyes, he looked amazed, and they walked over to us. He turned his face to me.

"You were right, this whole time." He said.

"Yep." I said, smugly. When they reached us, they knelt down, and both hugged him at the same time.

"I can't believe it. I mean, it's obviously true, since you two are sitting here in front of me, but still. This is amazing." He said to them.

"Good to see you again." My dad said.

"We've missed you." My mum said. Sirius looked at them and smiled.

"I've missed you guys too. And, Melissa, you're looking as gorgeous as ever." He told her.

"Oh, shut up you big flirt." She said, but still blushed. He seemed to have that effect on people. As they caught up, I leaned back into Draco, and he stroked my hair. I fell back into my depressed state, wondering what had happened to Harry. My mind wandered to all sorts of terrible scenarios. When Sirius glanced over at me and saw how I was feeling, he stopped his conversation with my parents.

"What is it, Talia?" My mother asked, concerned for me.

"What's happened?" Sirius asked, more afraid of what I knew.

"It's Harry." I said. "He… he went into the forest to give himself up." I said, stumbling over the words. My eyes started to tear up again, and Draco wrapped his arms around me from behind. Sirius's eyes widened, and he turned his head away.

"Shit." He said under his breath, and I could tell he was just as heartbroken as I was. I looked out a window to see Neville limping around outside, and saw him pick up the Sorting Hat. And then, I saw his head pop up to look at something coming.

"Hey, everybody, I think Neville sees something outside." I said, getting up. Everyone started to make their ways outside.

"Do you need any help, Sirius?" I heard my dad ask.

"No, I think I've got this." He said, slowly making his way up. The entire way outside, Draco and I were hand in hand. When we got outside, we saw the army of Death Eaters making their way across the bridge, led by Voldemort. At the front, behind Voldemort, was Hagrid, carrying something in his arms.

"Who is it that Hagrid's carrying?" Ginny asked. "Neville, who is it?" Neville didn't answer her, and I knew why. It was too painful. Instead, we waited for Voldemort to speak.

"Harry Potter… is dead!" He shouted so everyone could hear.

"No! No!" Ginny screamed, and tried to run for him. Thankfully, Arthur got a hold on her before she could make that mistake.

"Silence! Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith in me." I looked around at my friends' faces, and could tell they were all thinking the same thing I was. No chance in hell. "Harry Potter is dead!" This time, he shouted it to all his Death Eaters, and they laughed and cheered. "And now is the time to declare yourselves. Come forward and join us! Or die." He said to everyone, but no one moved.

"Draco." I heard Lucius Malfoy say. Draco's head dropped. "Draco." He said again, quieter this time. Draco turned his head to me.

"I'm not going." He said to me, and I put my hand on his cheek.

"You have to." I said.

"No. I'm staying here with you." He said stubbornly.

"No. Go with your parents, and get out of here." I said, sternly.

"But—" He started, but I cut him off with a single look. He knew I was right. He needed to be with his family, with his mother.

"Draco," Narcissa called to him, "Come." And with one more glance at me, he went to them. I watched him walk away from me with tears in my eyes, hoping that he would be alright. I wasn't angry, I just wanted him safe. I felt two people walk up on either side of me, and felt the Twins grab my hands.

"Ah. Well done, Draco. Well done." Voldemort said, and then for some strange reason gave him an incredibly awkward hug. Despite the horrible situation, I felt a sudden desire to laugh. But I resisted. As Draco stepped away from The Dark Lord and up to his parents, they made their way through the crowd and to the bridge. Good. They were getting out of here.

All of a sudden, Neville started to limp toward Voldemort, and my heart broke a little.

"Well, I must say I'd hoped for better." Voldemort said. There was no better than Neville Longbottom. The Death Eaters started to laugh at him, and I suddenly had the urge to kill them all right there. Those bastards. "And who might you be, young man?"

"Neville Longbottom." Neville said, and they started to laugh again. No doubt they were all aware of what Bellatrix had done to his parents.

"Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."

"I'd like to say something." Neville proclaimed, and I wondered what was going on in his mind. Voldemort did not like this, but he let him continue.

"Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." He said sarcastically. Who knew Voldemort knew what sarcasm was.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone—"

"Stand down, Neville." Seamus interrupted.

"People die every day! Friends, family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here. So's Fred... All of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will! Because you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! This is not over!" Neville shouted, and then many things happened at once. As Neville finished his speech, he pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat. Just as he did that, Harry's body fell out of Hagrid's arms. No, he jumped!

Harry was alive!

…

Draco POV

As I walked toward my mother and father at the other side of the courtyard, all I could think about was Talia. How could I just leave here there? There was no way I was helping these Death Eaters any longer. But, I went over to my parents anyway, hoping to get them out of here. Maybe I could trick them into leaving without me, and then I'd come back and fight with her… I didn't know. All I did know, was that this couldn't be the end. As I passed Voldemort, he grabbed me and pulled me into a cold, hard hug.

"Ah, well done, Draco. Well done." It may have ruined hugs for me for the rest of my life. Thoughts of Talia were replaced with thoughts of killing him once and for all, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough. When I reached my parents, I went straight for my mother, and we turned to walk away, leaving my father behind with the people he had chosen long ago.

"Thank you, Draco." My mother whispered to me, and I didn't answer. We were just stepping on to the bridge when there was a commotion in the crowd behind us. I turned around to see everyone scrambling around. When I glanced over at Hagrid, and saw that his arms were empty, I was confused, until I saw Harry Potter's very much alive figure running off. I couldn't believe it! I turned to my mother and grabbed her shoulders.

"I have to go back." I said.

"But… Draco," She said, wanting me to come with her still. But I couldn't.

"No, mother. I can't leave her there. Please, let me go." I said. I saw her eyes fill with tears as she nodded, and gave me a hug.

"Please, be careful." She said, and I nodded once before running back to Talia.

…

Talia POV

"_Confringo_!" Harry yelled, and a wave of fire shot out of his wand and straight at Nagini. The wave didn't harm the snake, but did knock a bunch of Death Eaters behind her off their feet. Harry dashed away from everyone, just as Voldemort sent a curse flying his way. Everyone immediately jumped back into action, and the Battle of Hogwarts continued. Ron, Hermione and I ran to meet up with Harry.

"I'll lure him into the castle. We have to kill the snake." Harry said to us, and we nodded.

"You'll need this!" Hermione said, and she threw him a basilisk fang. Just then, we saw Voldemort heading our way, and Neville ran up in front of us with the sword and tried to defend us. But Voldemort threw him back, and then disapparated with Nagini. When he was gone, I saw my white-haired boyfriend running toward me.

"Draco!" I shouted, and met up with him. "What are you doing here? I thought you left!"

"How many times do I have to remind you just how stuck with me you are?" He said, while throwing random jinxes at random Death Eaters. I smiled.

"At least once more, Miss Swan." I shouted, and he laughed. Together, we took out ten Death Eaters or so, and then we ran back inside to where the real fun was happening. I had lost my friends, but that didn't matter. They knew what they were doing. As I was moving around, I almost tripped over a horizontal Neville on the floor.

"Get off your ass, Neville!" I said, teasing him. He got up, grabbed the sword, and started fighting with us. "Neville, go find the snake! Help Ron and Hermione! We've got this!" I shouted, and heard some agreeing shouts from nearby friends. Neville nodded, and dashed away. Who would've thought that out of every student at Hogwarts, Neville Longbottom was the most bad ass there was? Just then, I noticed Bellatrix Lestrange in the corner, and went for her.

"Over here, you Crazy Bitch!" I shouted, and she searched for who had insulted her until her eyes rested on me. "I'll have this scar on my cheek for a long time, because of you!"

"How dare you talk to me like that?" She shouted, and started battling me. Draco was still near me, but dueling someone else. All of a sudden, I felt Ginny next to me, and we smiled at each other as we started ganging up on Bellatrix. I looked around, and all of the Weasleys were here with us. When Bellatrix sent a pretty nasty looking curse at Ginny, she blocked it. But then when Molly stepped in front of us, looking particularly pissed off, we backed off.

"Shit, your mum looks pissed." I said, and Ginny nodded.

"Bellatrix is so screwed." Fred said, and this time we all nodded. Even Arthur.

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" Molly said to her, and they went at each other. For a few seconds it looked like Bellatrix would win, but then Molly retaliated, stronger than ever. And then, out of nowhere, Molly sent a curse at Bellatrix that she failed to block, and she sort of just… dissolved into ashes. It was awesome. It was almost scary, the satisfaction it gave me. I looked over and saw Draco watching, and gave him a kind smile. I mean, she _was _still his aunt. But he didn't look upset. Instead, he looked almost as relieved as I felt, and he went back to kicking someone's ass. I loved him.

It went on for a while like that, us fighting. I didn't care. I just wanted to buy the others as much time as I could. As I disarmed a Death Eater, one I recognized from around the Manor, he picked up a knife and threw it at me. It missed, but not before giving me a pretty nasty scrape on my arm. I looked down at my blood, and felt something start to boil within me.

"Uh oh." I heard both the Twins say behind me.

"Talia?" Draco said, but I didn't listen. When I looked back up at the Death Eater, I saw the fear completely take over his face. He started to back up, but then I went all ninja on his ass. I knocked him on his back, and stood over him, eyes glowing green.

"That was mean." I said, and there was a faint buzz to my voice. I raised my hand directly to his face, but I didn't kill him. I was sick of all the dying. So, I just put him to sleep. And then I went berserk and did the same to at _least _twenty others. Pretty soon, the Great Hall was almost empty of death Eaters. There were just a few more being taken care of at the front. I walked over to Fred, George, and Draco. George and I fist-bumped, Fred and I chest-bumped, and when I got to Draco, his eyes were burning for me.

"That was hot." He said, giving me a _very _personal look.

"Bloody hell, guys," Fred said.

"Get a room!" George finished.

"Shut up, you prats." I said, not taking my eyes off Draco. And then we heard a bunch happening at the front of the room, so we all jogged over. Hermione and Ron had fallen over, and were cornered by the snake. I almost ran over to help them, but Neville beat me to it. With great big battle cry, he decapitated Nagini with one swing of the Sword of Gryffindor, turning her into smoke. It was so, so impressive. Everyone, and I mean everyone, even some nearby Death Eaters, were looking at him, just as impressed as I was.

"Neville, I gotta say… I never thought I'd be this attracted to you right now." I said, and he laughed. Everyone laughed, even Draco. But then we turned back to the courtyard, and saw both Harry and Voldemort, looking at each other. Voldemort had never looked so vulnerable. Everyone stopped to watch this final battle. They raised their wands at each other one last time, a jet of green light from Voldemort, and red from Harry. And this time, it wasn't even a challenge. Harry's red light immediately started to push back Voldemort's green one, until there wasn't any green left. And when The Elder Wand flew out of Voldemort's hand and into the air, Harry caught it. We all watched as Voldemort slowly faded away, until he was nothing but ashes floating up in the air.

Finally, Voldemort was gone.

…

"Okay, you guys, shut up and listen, because I'm only telling this story _one last time_. Got it?" I said later, as me and all my family and friends sat in a group in the great hall. People saw me and Draco kissing and holding hands, and immediately started attacking me with questions. I was sick and tired of it, so this was the last time. By the end of the story, everyone was up to speed with everything, and I was just left with my close friends and family. I was lounging up against Draco, my back to his stomach, while we played with each other's hands.

"Hey Talia, did I ever thank you for saving my life?" Fred asked me. I pretended to think hard about it.

"You know, I can't really remember. I guess you'll have to do it again." I said, smiling. For once, I was joking, and he was serious.

"Thank you." He said. I gave him a nod, and he smiled back, and then started roughing around with George. Just then, McLaggen walked by us.

"Looking good, Talia." He said, giving me a wink.

"Shut up, McLaggen." I said, but I smiled anyway. I was having a hard time believing that all the bad times were over. I mean, I definitely believed it, but it had such a surreal feel. Voldemort was gone. Bellatrix was dead. People in my family had beaten death, avoided death, and even come back from it. The remaining Death Eaters were being held until they could be escorted by Aurors to Azkaban. Everything was good.

"So, my Mum said that she'd leave my father if everything turned out the way we wanted today." Draco said to me, and I leaned my head against his shoulder.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked him. I felt him nod.

"I think so. Things were bad with him _long _before all this happened. And anyway, he'll be brought back to Azkaban, so we won't see him for a very long time." He said, and I could tell just how okay with this he was.

"Finally, we can live the way we want to. Not like before, when we were afraid of anyone finding out about us. Or like always, when we were afraid of the Dark Lord. Our lives are _ours _now." I said, closing my eyes and feeling amazingly good.

"Speaking of which…" He said, and pulled me up. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me out of the hall, where we were completely alone.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He smiled, and kept pulling me.

"You'll see." Was all he said as he led me outside. I looked back and saw my family start to follow.

"Where are you guys going?" Fred shouted.

"I'm being held hostage by Malfoy!" I shouted back. He laughed and started to follow, but both my parents grabbed his shoulders before he could move, keeping him back. Malfoy led me to the middle of the bridge, and then stopped. Off in the distance, I saw Harry and Ron and Hermione at the other end of the bridge, where they were talking. When Draco turned around, he was practically glowing.

"Talia—" He started, but I cut him off.

"Are you about to propose? Because, if so, then I like how it started. But I swear to God, if you get down on one knee and give me some crap about making you the happiest man alive, I will say no." I said, but he knew me. He knew that I wouldn't say no. And he saw the wetness in my eyes. He chuckled.

"Will you let me finish, please?" He asked. I nodded. He didn't down on one knee, but he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. It was beautiful. It was silver, with a blue sapphire right in the middle. It instantly reminded me of the necklace that he gave me, and my hand reached up to touch it. "When my mother saw the necklace I gave you, she gave me this. It's hers, but she wanted me to give it to you. When the time was right. And I've already talked to your parents… all of them. They're all okay with this. Hell, I even asked the Twins. And don't worry, I'm not going to get sappy on you. I'm going to keep it short and simple, just the way you like it. Will you marry me?" He finished, and I started to cry. It was perfect. Everything was perfect, he was perfect, the ring was perfect, all of it was just… right. I wiped my face with the back of my hand, smiling. He reached out and wiped away moisture that I had missed, also smiling. I opened my mouth to say yes, but then had another thought.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to check my schedule…" I said, and he smiled.

"Oh shut up." He said, and pulled me in for a long, wonderful kiss.

"Yes." I whispered against his lips, and kissed him once more. I was disappointed when my friends interrupted it.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, when her and the boys came back from their walk. I looked at her with a big smile, about to tell her, when my other friends came from the other way. I turned again to see Ginny, Fred, George, Kayla, and Blaise.

"We saw you kissing, so we automatically assumed everything went alright." George said.

"Did you say yes?" Kayla asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Yes!" I shouted, and everyone swarmed around us. The girls pulled me away, while the boys started grilling Draco, probably all taking turns giving him the protective brother speech. But he wasn't fazed.

"This is going to be so awesome..." Ginny said.

"Of course we'll all be bride's maids, right?" Hermione asked.

"I can't wait to go shopping for what you'll wear on your wedding night…" Kayla said, wagging her eye brows at me. Typical Kay.

"You're going to look so beautiful in a white dress…" Hermione started, but I cut her off.

"Wait, wait, hold up a second. Why white?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips in a very stubborn fashion. I could sense that the boys were listening in. Hermione looked flabbergasted.

"Well… It's traditional…" She started, and I smiled at her.

"Oh, Hermione. Since when have I ever done anything in the traditional way?"

**A.N. Check out my profile for the wedding outfits. I'm not going to write a wedding chapter, but you'll still be getting one last chapter to this story pretty soon.**


	41. Chapter 41

**A.N. I added one last outfit for Talia for this chapter, just for fun. Enjoy the last chapter!**

**The Epilogue**

"Quinn! Quit flirting with the Finnigan boy, you'll have time for that once you're on the train! She definitely takes after you, Draco." I added.

"That's my girl. Although, she could do better." He said.

"Oh, come on! You'd say that about any boy who showed any interest at all in either of your daughters." I said. I was trying to hurry along my family before we missed the train, but they were all distracted.

"Harley, could you get your sister?" Draco said to our other daughter, who was walking ahead of us. It was her first year at Hogwarts, and rather than scared, she was extremely eager. I could hardly believe it had been nearly nineteen years since we were there as students.

"Ugh. Fine." She said. She was eleven, as well as her twin brother, and our other daughter was fifteen.

"Mum, can you fix my tie quick?" Scorpius asked me. I fixed his tie, smoothed back his hair, and he went along to join his sisters.

"If that boy gets teased for being named 'Scorpius', I'm blaming you." I told Draco, watching our children squabble.

"Oh, please. It's a good, strong name."

"Oh, I suppose." I said, humoring him. He turned to me with mock hurt.

"What do you have against the name I chose for my son?" He asked.

"Nothing! I think it will guarantee a spot for him in Slytherin House, though." I said, glancing at my son.

"And what's wrong with Slytherin House?" He asked, inching closer to me. I laughed.

"They can't be trusted!" I teased, leaning in to give him a kiss.

"Ew, gross!" Quinn shouted.

"Yeah, get a room guys." Harley said as all three of them went past us. We chuckled.

"And anyway, _you're _the one that insisted on naming our daughters Harley and Quinn. Don't be judging me." Draco said, his arm around me as we followed our kids.

"I like those names!" I said, laughing. We stopped and looked at each other, smiling. And then we looked at our children, with love flooding our every feature.

"I know. I think they're perfect." He said.

"Our kids turned out pretty great." I said, watching our children. I laughed as our twins started to have a fake light saber battle, and then glanced over to Quinn. She was flirting again, only _this _time it was with one of Dean Thomas's kids. He was really tall, just like his father, and was obviously part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Uh oh." I said, and Draco followed my gaze and laughed.

"I think she takes more after you than you think." He said, and I playfully hit his shoulder. The Hogwarts Express blew its whistle, meaning it would be leaving in five minutes.

"Kids, come get your stuff!" I shouted, and they all came back to get their trunks and pets. But before they ran off to join their friends, they all came over and hugged both of us for the last time until Christmas. It took all I had not to break down in tears right there, knowing that all my babies were leaving me. "Be safe. And have fun." I said to them.

"But not the same kind of fun your mother did." Someone said as they passed us, and I saw Kayla and Blaise walk by with their son. Kayla's belly was growing bigger every day, another baby on the way. Our sons met up with each other and got onto the train, while my daughters stayed with us a minute more. I turned to Harley.

"And don't worry about what houses you get sorted into, alright? It doesn't matter to me one bit."

"Yeah, your sister got sorted into Hufflepuff, and I still like her." Draco said, and we all laughed. Except for Quinn. She just smiled and rolled her eyes, and left with Harley. And just like that, they were gone. I looked down the platform and saw Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron, all saying goodbye to their kids. I waved, and they all smiled and waved back. We'd be meeting them later that week for lunch. Draco put his arm around my shoulders, and I put mine around his waist, and we watched the train leave the platform completely before turning to go.

"Come on, we need to get you back to the office, Healer Malfoy." I said, and the four of us started to leave. "Kay, Blaise, I'll see you at work tomorrow?" I asked them. They both nodded.

"Bright and early!" Kayla said, waddling a little slower than the rest of us, making us walk a little slower as well.

"Kayla, you're six months pregnant. You are allowed to sleep in once in a while." Blaise said.

"Absolutely not! That book store cannot function without me!" She whined, but it didn't matter.

"I'll be there all morning, Kayla. And, speaking as both of your bosses, I'm _telling _you to not come in until at least noon. Alright? And Blaise will be right next door at the Bakery in case I need any help." I told her, and she nodded reluctantly, pouting. Kayla worked at the bookstore that was right next door to the bakery that Blaise worked at in Diagon Alley, both owned by me.

"In that case, I think we'll head home and take a nap." Blaise said, and they walked to their car. Both apparation and the Floo Network were too risky for her so late in her pregnancy. Then it was just me and Draco. We liked to walk when it was just the two of us. And anyway, St. Mungo's wasn't that far away. I rested my head on his shoulder as we walked.

"I miss the kids already." I said. It was going to be hard to get used to an empty house. Draco stopped walking and stood in front of me, a smile on his face.

"Let's make another one." He said. I smiled.

"Okay." I said, grinning, and he started to walk a little faster toward his work. "Wait, right now?" I asked, but still smiling.

"Why not? My office is closer than our house. And it's not like I'm using my desk for anything else." He said, and I laughed. I caught up to him and kissed him, and then we started walking again.

"Hey, if it's a boy, can I name it?" I asked.

"What? No way! You got to name both the girls, at least let me have the boys!" He said, and I gave him an extremely cute pout.

"But I wanted to name him Jason Todd!" I whined.

"Seriously?" He asked, and I nodded. He sighed. "We'll talk about it. But _later._" He said, as we rushed to his office to make another child. Life was good, my family was safe, and I was the happiest I'd been since I was eight years old.

All was well.


End file.
